When the gangland owner of a pit bull that killed a three-year-old girl is found gutted on an Edinburgh hill Gus Dury is asked to investigate, and soon finds himself up to his neck in the warring underworld of the city’s sink estates. Amidst illegal dog fights, a missing fifty grand and a police force and judiciary desperate to cover their links to a brutal killing, Gus must work fast to root out the truth, whilst the case sinks its teeth ever deeper into him.
Gutted (Gus Dury 2)
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Review
"Only two books in and Tony Black is already one of my favourite living crime writers. Gutted is simply superb" (Nick Stone, author of Mr Clarinet )
"Tony Black is the latest of the seemingly unending stream of good Scottish crime writers who have in common the ability to portray vividly the underbelly of Scottish inner-city criminality ... The dialogue fizzes and the whole is suffused with black humour. Celtic Noir is in rude health" (Marcel Berlins The Times )
"Sitting somewhere between the raw grit of Welsh and the genius of Rankin, Gutted deserves to be the thriller hit of the summer" (Scottish Daily Record )
"As washed-up private detectives go, Gus Dury is compelling - he's as hard as any criminal, as twice as self-destructive." (William Leith Evening Standard )
"Absolutely gripping - a labyrinth of violence, secrets and emotion. This is a true rollercoaster of a read." (lovereading.co.uk ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
"Tony Black is the latest of the seemingly unending stream of good Scottish crime writers who have in common the ability to portray vividly the underbelly of Scottish inner-city criminality ... The dialogue fizzes and the whole is suffused with black humour. Celtic Noir is in rude health" (Marcel Berlins The Times )
"Sitting somewhere between the raw grit of Welsh and the genius of Rankin, Gutted deserves to be the thriller hit of the summer" (Scottish Daily Record )
"As washed-up private detectives go, Gus Dury is compelling - he's as hard as any criminal, as twice as self-destructive." (William Leith Evening Standard )
"Absolutely gripping - a labyrinth of violence, secrets and emotion. This is a true rollercoaster of a read." (lovereading.co.uk ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Book Description
The blistering follow-up to Paying For It from Scotland's brightest new crime talent
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A great author, this is his second Gus Drury novel. Gus Drury is a ex-journalist in Edinburgh who while out one night falls onto a gutted body. Immediately he is a suspect, and what makes it worse is the detective investigating is dating his ex-wife. This is a dark and shady view of Edinburgh, but so well portrayed.
Gus is one of those characters that you love as he doesn't have special training, he drinks too much, yet, he is a ex-journalist so you know he will put his nose in to get a story. The situations seem very real and you hope he will always come out on top.
Think Tony Black is a fantastic writer and is going on to great things, recommend all give this a read. This had me hooked from the beginning and then raced through a great story, and left me wanting more.
Gus is one of those characters that you love as he doesn't have special training, he drinks too much, yet, he is a ex-journalist so you know he will put his nose in to get a story. The situations seem very real and you hope he will always come out on top.
Think Tony Black is a fantastic writer and is going on to great things, recommend all give this a read. This had me hooked from the beginning and then raced through a great story, and left me wanting more.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Gutted begins with Tony Black placing his protagonist, Gus Dury, firmly within a highly defined physical reality, juxtaposing that next to some of the grittiest dialogue you will read outside a late night lock-in with a mob of angry gangsters, and igniting the story like a rocket. This is a gritty and extremely real crime novel. Black in no way sanitises the crime he presents with an authenticity that at times makes you feel you are eavesdropping on criminals. The story centres on the events that ensue when a gangland owner is gutted after his pit bull kills a three year old girl. Gus investigates and finds himself immersed in a gangland war.
Black gives the reader a sharp picture of criminal life, of its habits, and tastes. He etches it with the details of everyday life. The intensive action of the novel is punctuated by a cultural sub-text, by the things these men and women do to relieve their bruised lives.
His investigation throws up some unpalatable facts, such as the seeming complicity of the police in the brutal killing. These are venal characters competing in a polluted food chain, and this is the work of a highly accomplished portrait painter. Black portrays the bleak reality of crime, and has placed it in a compelling fast paced story that will not let go of your collar. And the ending is a necessary and unavoidable shock.
Black gives the reader a sharp picture of criminal life, of its habits, and tastes. He etches it with the details of everyday life. The intensive action of the novel is punctuated by a cultural sub-text, by the things these men and women do to relieve their bruised lives.
His investigation throws up some unpalatable facts, such as the seeming complicity of the police in the brutal killing. These are venal characters competing in a polluted food chain, and this is the work of a highly accomplished portrait painter. Black portrays the bleak reality of crime, and has placed it in a compelling fast paced story that will not let go of your collar. And the ending is a necessary and unavoidable shock.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Alison McVey
Format:Paperback
As I understand it, tourists flock to visit the Edinburgh that Ian Rankin has created in the Rebus novels. Tony Black's Edinburgh, however, is something else and anyone embarking on the 'Gus Dury tourist trail' is likely to need their head examined - this dark Edinburgh underworld is not for the faint of heart.
This story opens in the dead of night on Corstophine Hill, where Dury is on the lookout for badger baiters - but he stumbles across a dead body instead. Reporting his discovery, it becomes apparent that the police would prefer to charge him with the murder rather than look for the real culprit. So, he takes it upon himself to do their job for him.
Dury drinks and smokes to stay alive. Food and human warmth are accidental incidentals - he'll enjoy them when placed in front of him, but he won't go looking for them. Impulsive and antagonistic, he approaches his task with all the finesse of a drunken bull in a china shop. But integrity is his middle name, and the battle, as ever, is between honesty and corruption.
This novel races along at a cracking pace, and is mostly set in the deprived areas of Edinburgh. There's a lot of fighting, which makes it quite a man's book (if there's more than two punches and two people, I struggle to follow the sequence and almost have to draw a diagram). It's very readable and whilst I probably wouldn't want to spend any time with Dury, I did enjoy the story and look forward to seeing how Dury develops in the series.
This story opens in the dead of night on Corstophine Hill, where Dury is on the lookout for badger baiters - but he stumbles across a dead body instead. Reporting his discovery, it becomes apparent that the police would prefer to charge him with the murder rather than look for the real culprit. So, he takes it upon himself to do their job for him.
Dury drinks and smokes to stay alive. Food and human warmth are accidental incidentals - he'll enjoy them when placed in front of him, but he won't go looking for them. Impulsive and antagonistic, he approaches his task with all the finesse of a drunken bull in a china shop. But integrity is his middle name, and the battle, as ever, is between honesty and corruption.
This novel races along at a cracking pace, and is mostly set in the deprived areas of Edinburgh. There's a lot of fighting, which makes it quite a man's book (if there's more than two punches and two people, I struggle to follow the sequence and almost have to draw a diagram). It's very readable and whilst I probably wouldn't want to spend any time with Dury, I did enjoy the story and look forward to seeing how Dury develops in the series.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Not having read Tony Black's first outing with Gus Dury, I didn't quite know what to expect, though the reviews and blurb suggested nothing if not an interesting new character to take on board. I was not disappointed. Dury is, of course, a deeply flawed man, an alcoholic ex-hack with a nose, when not oblivious to the outside world, for a good story.
That the story he unveils brings him into conflict with both sides of the law, only causes pain and grief for just about everyone. Even the dog is not immune but Black manages to bring most of his characters to a satisfying conclusion.
I'm just wondering if there are any cheap and cheerful authors from Scotland these days? The principal cities detailed in the current throughput of novels suggests Scotland is far from the glowing adverts and haunting music of the pipes generally portrayed. However, this story of dog fights, heavyweight criminals, corrupt police and, of course, dissolute anti-heroes didn't have to be set in Edinburgh; I can think of plenty of English cities where such conditions exist today.
Anyway, the story is a good one. Dury is an oddball character who manages, against all received wisdom, to sort out a result. I know there is the third book now available but I am wondering if Dury's liver will last the length of the new book. He drinks for Scotland, it seems causing much anguish for his close circle of friends, his ex-wife and some concern for his new found friend, the dog.
As a stand alone book, it works well. Dury's past is set out in bits and pieces throughout this book so newcomers, like me, get to understand the background of his relationships. This helps considerably and makes me want to find a copy of 'Loss' as soon as I can.... Read more ›
That the story he unveils brings him into conflict with both sides of the law, only causes pain and grief for just about everyone. Even the dog is not immune but Black manages to bring most of his characters to a satisfying conclusion.
I'm just wondering if there are any cheap and cheerful authors from Scotland these days? The principal cities detailed in the current throughput of novels suggests Scotland is far from the glowing adverts and haunting music of the pipes generally portrayed. However, this story of dog fights, heavyweight criminals, corrupt police and, of course, dissolute anti-heroes didn't have to be set in Edinburgh; I can think of plenty of English cities where such conditions exist today.
Anyway, the story is a good one. Dury is an oddball character who manages, against all received wisdom, to sort out a result. I know there is the third book now available but I am wondering if Dury's liver will last the length of the new book. He drinks for Scotland, it seems causing much anguish for his close circle of friends, his ex-wife and some concern for his new found friend, the dog.
As a stand alone book, it works well. Dury's past is set out in bits and pieces throughout this book so newcomers, like me, get to understand the background of his relationships. This helps considerably and makes me want to find a copy of 'Loss' as soon as I can.... Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bites!
In Gutted, Tony Black continues the murky journey by investigative journalist Gus Dury into Scotland's underbelly. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Paul D Brazill
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not for the faint hearted
Tony Black does it again! Dury is starting to make the trainspotting crowd look a little fey! Buy the book and tell me I'm right!
Published 3 months ago by Neil Wright
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gus Dury 2
Enjoy these books especially as I lived in Edinburgh for 11 years. Certainly viewed from a "non police friendly" angle. Different from Rankin and Jardine
Published 4 months ago by john levey
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gritty
This is my first Tony Black novel and will certainly not be my last. The character of Gus Drury is a no-nonsense, dark and nasty character who somehow manages to be a likable rogue... Read more
Published 4 months ago by jonathan tait
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gutted
The second book in the Gus Dury series, and Tony Black is back on top form. I'm never disappointed with his books, and would recommend them to anyone with a liking for well written... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Jaybee
5.0 out of 5 stars
A New Voice in Crime Fiction
I picked up a second hand copy of 'Gutted' recently and was pleasantly surprised by it.
Like Allan Guthrie , Black sets his gritty hard boiled tale in Edinburgh,the... Read more
Like Allan Guthrie , Black sets his gritty hard boiled tale in Edinburgh,the... Read more
Published on 26 Sep 2010 by M. D. Pithie
1.0 out of 5 stars
I was gutted !
The first book in a very long time that I gave up on only half way through. Very disjointed story line spread far too heavily with Scottish "slang" totally uninteresting.
Published on 23 July 2010 by Urbancliffy
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gutted when I finished it!
Excellent book, couldn't put it down. 'Part 2' in the life of Gus Dury, an ex-journalist come investigator and an alcoholic who gives the Police a run for their money yet again. Read more
Published on 14 Sep 2009 by S. Tait
5.0 out of 5 stars
Blacker than Black
A beautifully developed murder-mystery plot with lovingly detailed flawed characters, told in a genuine, easy working-man's Scots vernacular with a wide enough vocabulary to... Read more
Published on 3 Sep 2009 by S. J. Rapaport
5.0 out of 5 stars
Read this I don't think you'll be "Gutted!"
Gus is a hard headed, but soft hearted ex journalist and alcoholic and we meet him again in this second outing from Tony Black. Read more
Published on 2 July 2009 by loopyloo100
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