The Cutting Room

Reviews / Votes

One of the most intriguing, assured and unputdownable debuts to come out of Scotland in recent years . . . A stunning work of fiction. * * The Sunday Times * * I was hooked from page one. Rilke is not Welsh's only great creation. The huge supporting cast of misfits and outsiders . . . are equally memorable. And Glasgow becomes a character in itself: it is oppressive, foreboding - a dark place for a dark tale. * * The Guardian * * What makes The Cutting Room so gripping is the combination of suspense and character as the story unfolds through the unusual eyes of Rilke . . . His horror, like the reader's, lies in the terrible intimacy, impersonality and irreversibility of what he witnesses. * * The Herald * * In Louise Welsh crime fiction has one of its few real literary writers. The Cutting Room is a hugely commendable debut, assured and memorable. Crime fiction may have its prize-winner at last. * * Independent * * Welsh upturns tropes and adds depth, seedy detail and Gothic lyricism to the page-turner framework. -- Holly Kyte * * Telegraph * * Scottish author Welsh's debut remains one of her most intriguing works, an atmospheric tale of death and desire in Glasgow * * i * *