Loss (Gus Dury 3) [Hardcover]

'Tony Black is my favourite British crime writer and Gus Dury the genre's most interesting protagonist. Like his previous books, Loss has the power, style and street swagger that makes most of his contemporaries a little bland by comparison' --Irvine Welsh

'If you're a fan of the Ian Rankins, Denise Minas and Irvine Welshes of this world, this is most certainly one for you' --Scotsman

'The enigmatic Dury continues to be the punk rocker of the Scottish crime scene - anarchic, rebellious and never afraid to shove his Doc Martens where they're not wanted' --Daily Record

'Tony Black has written two of the finest crime novels to come out of the UK in the past twenty years and I'm willing to bet that in twenty years, Paying for It and Gutted will be on the top ten list of any crime list. But now comes Loss ... Phew-oh ... It's like having yer ass kicked and yer heart shrived simultaneously. What a privilege to watch a master writer achieve everything you'd hoped for and then some' --Ken Bruen

'Tony Black delivers a story with a hard edge and fast moving action. In this third book, he yet again produces a story that never lets up and delivers a superb book that you just can't put down. I can't wait for the next instalment of Gus Dury'
--EuroCrime

'Black is one of those excellent perpetrators of Scottish noir ... a compelling and convincing portratyer of raw emotions in a vicious milieu' --Marcel Berlins, The Times

'A brilliant, sweeping and heartbreaking novel, Black truly deserves your attention' --International Thriller Writers

'As washed-up private detectives go, Gus Dury is compelling - he's as hard as any criminal and twice as self-destructive' --Evening Standard

'This is modern crime at its most brutal, its most affecting, its most honest and its most intelligent' --Russel D McLean, Do Some Damage

'Black writes about urban blight and the curse of alcohol like no other, but his down at heel tales are also full of everyday humour. Harrowing but indispensable'
--Maxim Jakubowski

Gus Dury returns with his darkest and most personal case yet

Gus Dury is a changed man. He is off the Edinburgh streets and back with estranged wife, Debs. He has promised her that he won’t get involved in any more dodgy cases which the police can’t or won’t solve. And above all, he’s off the drink. In his pocket at all times is a half bottle of scotch, but although the label is worn to shreds, he has never so much as loosened the cap.

Then his brother Michael is found dead with a bullet in his heart and Gus’ life begins to unravel all over again. How can he keep the promises he has made and still avenge his brother’s murder?

Loss, Tony Black’s third novel about washed-up hack turned private investigator Gus Dury, is absolutely gripping – a labyrinth of violence, secrets and emotion. A true rollercoaster of a read.

Gus Dury is a changed man. He is off the Edinburgh streets and back with estranged wife, Debs. He has promised her that he won’t get involved in any more dodgy cases which the police can’t or won’t solve. And above all, he’s off the drink. In his pocket at all times is a half bottle of scotch, but although the label is worn to shreds, he has never so much as loosened the cap.

Then his brother Michael is found dead, with a bullet hole beneath his heart and Gus’s life begins to unravel all over again. How can he keep the promises he has made and still avenge his brother’s murder?

Loss, Tony Black’s third novel about washed-up hack turned private investigator Gus Dury, is absolutely gripping – a labyrinth of violence, secrets and emotion. A true rollercoaster of a read.

Praise for Gutted:

‘Maybe the best novel I’ve read all year … A stunning piece of work’ Allan Guthrie

‘Only two books in and Tony Black is already one of my favourite living crime writers. Gutted is simply superb’ Nick Stone

Praise for Paying for It:

'A fine debut. Black is the new noir' Allan Guthrie

'The narrative blasts off the page like a triple malt ... This is one adrenalin-pumped novel, as moving and compassionate as it is stylishly written' Ken Bruen

'Up there with Rankin and Kernick and Billingham' Crimespree

Tony Black is an award-winning journalist who has written for most of the national newspapers. He is the author of Paying for It and Gutted. He lives in Edinburgh.

www.tonyblack.net