Reviews

Squeaky Clean by Callum McSorley

Only show reviews with written explanations

gailmckelvie's review

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dark funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

cassiecat's review

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mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

3.5⭐️

A Bloody Scotland award winning debut. But be warned it’s full of Glaswegian dialect, it’s phonetic so that makes it easier to get to grips with. It’s one I probably would have loved more on audiobook with someone else doing the pronunciation.

Half of Glasgow thinks DI McCoist is bent, the other inept.

Davy a car wash attendant manages to get embroiled with one of the local criminal underworld with one bad decision.

I enjoyed the storytelling,where the world of the polis and the car wash are bought together. I really felt for Davy, but I struggled to gel with mcCoist. However I found the pacing too slow and plateaued throughout. I won’t follow the series.

scott_you_reading's review

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dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

bequietmichael's review

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

xsymphonica's review against another edition

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dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

timwakef78's review

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dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

It’s not often I read a book that will form part of a series and want to find out what happens next… but this is definitely one!

The writing is a perfect mix of thriller, character development and the dark humour adds light to the grizzly, graphic violence.

Throughly recommended for anyone wanting to get onboard early with a new Scottish, hard-boiled, police thriller that will have you loving Ally McCoist!

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

Finished reading: March 14th 2024
DNF at 21% (81 pages)

"Yet another bollocks 'case' to add to her workload of other bollocks cases - her stock-in-trade ever since the Fuck-Up last year. Farmers didn't work with as much fertiliser as DI McCoist did."

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Pushkin Vertigo in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

WARNING: it's another unpopular opinion review!!

Right... I didn't expect this to happen to be honest. There was just something about Squeaky Clean that made me want to read it as soon as I first saw it. I love a Scottish setting in my stories, and the mix of dark comedy and Scottish crime sounded like a match made it heaven. The blurb made the story sound SO good, and I was excited to finally dive in. Unfortunately it didn't end up being the reading experience I thought it would be for me, and I ended up having to make the difficult decision to turn it into my third DNF of the year.

Before I continue I have to stress that I still love the premise of this first book of a new series. The idea of having a disgraced cop as one of the main characters is an ingenious one, as it opens up so many possibilities for both humor and interesting situations. Add the organized crime angle with Davey's POV, and there was a lot of promise overall. The Scottish setting itself makes for a great backdrop, but here is were it partially went wrong for me as well. As a philologist, I usually love the incorporation of local dialects, but there is local flavor and there is completely overdoing it. This Glasgow dialect was an absolute headache and nightmare to properly understand, and with the majority of the plot being dialogues it was sheer torture to keep reading.

This wasn't my only issue with Squeaky Clean though. I also struggled considerably with the main characters; they were all extremely unlikeable, and I honestly couldn't care less about what happened to any of them. There was also way too much swearing going on; instead of making the characters feel more authentic, they became even bigger caricatures. To make things worse, I simply couldn't see the humor at all, and there was not even a tiny chuckle to be found in the first 20%. This might have been partly due to my struggles with the strong dialect, but still... I spotted a few parts that I think were supposed to be funny, but the humor just didn't hit the mark for me. Very disappointing to be honest, especially considering I usually love my humor on the dark and sarcastic side.

I initially attempted to keep reading by skimreading all the dialogues, but since that is basically the majority of Squeaky Clean I just couldn't see the point of continuing. Especially since it was already abundantly clear that Squeaky Clean just wasn't the book for me... I seem to be in the minority though, so don't give up on my account if you think your knowledge of Glasgow dialect is up to standards and like the sound of the blurb.

Content Warnings

laurenh89's review

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funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

inconsequential_perplexities's review against another edition

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dark funny tense fast-paced

3.75

Bloody Scotland!!!
First of a series, obviously. The build-up and the pacing are great, the ending maybe not so much - but I will be keen to see McCoist fighting crime in the future!

inkreads's review

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adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Squeaky Clean by Callum McSorley is the dark comedy crime novel for everybody that has enjoyed at least one book by either Ivine Welsh or Ian Rankin (both I was obsessed by in my 20s, and now, I have another outstanding Scottish author to add to my favourites list in this genre!)

I was utterly howling throughout this book. I cannot even. I was sputtering, gasping for air, full on uggo laughing and no, I didn't care because Squeaky Clean is brilliant!

Winner of the McIlvanny Prize for Scottish Crime of the Year and rightly so. The characters are beatifully developed, the dialogue and banter is on point and the storyline a scorcher

DI Alison McCoist is really not like in her station, most think she is a mess, either corrupt or just a naff police officer. However, nobody thinks much of a carwash employee called Davey Burnet either. Until events cause them both to cross paths with the twisted psycopathy of Glasgow's premier crime boss

An absolute screamer of a novel that will leave scorch marks on your psyche and your sides split from laughing, The narrative is snarky, blunt and brutal but oh so relatable and utterly gripping, I cannot wait to read more!

Thank you to Netgalley, Pushkin Press, Pushkin Vertigo and the author Callum McSorley for this incredible ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

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