Tag: 20 Books of Summer Page 1 of 5

Squeaky Clean

by Callum McSorley

DETAILS:
Series: DI Alison McCoist, #1
Publisher: Pushkin Vertigo
Publication Date: June 11, 2024
Format: Paperback
Length: 382 pg.
Read Date: June 12-13, 2026

What’s Squeaky Clean About?

There are two characters that this book focuses on—although you can make the case that the number should be 4 or maybe 5, or… let’s stick with two—just for the sake of keeping this post in check.

The first is DI Alison McCoist—after a case went south in a pretty spectacular way, she’s been relegated to only the most basic of cases—things that barely call for police attention. Why? Well, she’s either horribly incompetent, or she’s corrupt. One of the two. Now, to be fair—after this, she does take a piece of evidence home with her.* But aside from that, from what we see early on, McCoist is a good detective who stumbled into some bad luck, and maybe got a little ahead of herself once.

Our other character is a guy named Davey Burnet. And it’s really hard not to feel bad for him—not nearly as bad as he feels about himself, but still. He can’t really hold a job down for long—although the job at a car wash is working out pretty well. Well, he can pay rent and the occasional toy for his young daughter (on the rare occasions he’s allowed to see her).

Okay, I lied—we need to also talk about Paul “Paulo” McGuinn. He’s a criminal into this and that—and, occasionally, a few other things. He starts frequenting the car wash and starts doing a little business with it and through it. After a really stupid move by Davey (that goes wronger than anyone could’ve expected), Davey becomes an indentured servant of sorts. This is not something he wants, and he actively looks for a way out of—I mean, he doesn’t want to become a grass. But aside from that…

Still, there’s this detective who keeps dropping by because of something else…

* And when you read about her doing it, you will kind of root for her.

The Glasgow Of It

It’s been a long time since I sounded out words as I read—aloud or in my head. But this book had me doing that constantly—sometimes I’d have to take 2-3 runs at a word before I could really hear it correctly. But somehow, this didn’t slow me down at all—in fact, it felt like it sped up my reading (I’m pretty sure I didn’t). But man, you couldn’t accidentally skim something, either—I had to pay attention to it all, just to make sure I didn’t miss something.

Here’s a little snippet to show you what I mean—I’ll have you all know, it took a bit of work to get something this long without any “adult language.”

McCoist held her ID closer and he snatched it right out of her hand—held it up to his nose. McCoist found herself going for the CS spray in her pocket, fingers gripping the small tin, palms starting to sweat.

“Detective Inspector Alison McCoist right enough.” He looked between her picture and her face like a doorman, feigned familiarity in his voice. “Good name fir a polis in Glesga.” He handed the card back. “Yer pals call ye Ally?”

“No.” Emphatic, humourless, “There’s been a report of someone squatting in this office.”

“Is it the bloke oer the hall? That web designer. He never goes hame.” He grated out a laugh.

“Could you tell me your name, sir?” McCoist got her notepad and pen, having to let go of the pepper spray.

“Bootin oot squatters is a bit below yer pay grade is it no? Fir a detective, a mean.”

“Sir. Name, please.”

“Am just tryin tae get some work done here,”

“What kind of work?”

“The honest kind. A promise.”

“Can I come in?”

” No.” He didn’t even pretend to think about it.

“I can come back with a warrant to search the premises.”

“Al huv the kettle ready when ye dae.”

(this was such a pain for me to proofread)

Why did I pick this up? Why did I keep reading?

I heard a couple of crime writers on a podcast—actually I think it was 3-4 people on different podcasts—talking about how much they were looking forward to the third book in this series coming out a couple of months ago. Their praise of the earlier books and excitement made me think it was worth checking out.

The Prologue was intriguing, and the first couple of chapters’ voice drew me in. By the time Davey made his critical mistake, I was hooked. And each chapter drew me in further. The combination of twisted humor; pathos; and gritty, gritty crime is executed so well, McSorley writes with the confidence of someone like Ian Rankin.

What does this book tell us about humanity?

It’s really hard to get too deep into this without talking about just about everything I shouldn’t talk about with people who haven’t read the book.

But I’m going to say the biggest commentary on humanity that this novel has to offer is about the universality of hope—and how that drives our actions. McCoist believes she can do something to earn her way out of the doghouse with her superiors and colleagues. She also hopes that she can establish a good relationship with her kids. Davey hopes he can find moderate success, straighten up his life, and get more access to his daughter—and, who knows, win her mom back, too. There are several other characters I should mention here, but again, stuff you need to read for yourself.

I guess one exception is Paulo—I don’t see hope for him at all. He’s so convinced that he’s got control of things that he doesn’t need to think about hope or anything. He just wants money and power; that’s really all he can think of. Exception that proves the rule? (probably not, but I don’t want to rethink this section too much)

So, what did I think about Squeaky Clean?

McSorley is just a fantastic writer—again, the way he balances humor, pathos, and the grittiest of crimes—mixing noir sensibilities with a bit of the absurd, and heart. It’s just fantastic.

These characters—from the several I didn’t talk about to the three I did, are all so well drawn you can imagine having conversations with them off-page. You can practically hear each voice thanks to the way McSorley does dialogue.

The way that the plot moves and turns is another example of a writer running on all cylinders—even when you think you know how the next couple of chapters—if not the whole book—is going to go. You’ll either be wrong, or so thrown by something he throws at you that you’ll get a surprise or two—and maybe start to doubt yourself. It’s really not until the last couple of pages that you can be confident in what he’s got up his sleeve. I just love that.

I really can’t think of a negative about this novel—at least not one worth talking about.

This is one of the strongest Crime Novels I’ve read this year—and will likely retain that ranking. Although I do have the sequel, and it might challenge this one. Squeaky Clean is one to check out for sure.