The Weekenders

The deaths of a series of young Eastern European women in Glasgow leads to a stately home in the Scottish countryside, and back to the Second World War, where a group of young soldiers made their own, shocking rules… Saltire Prize shortlisted author David F. Ross returns with an extraordinary, dark mystery – first in a new series.

`A novel of real ambition and verve … ranges from wartime Italy to sixties Glasgow to explore the past's dark hold upon the present. Harrowing and compelling in equal measure, this is David F. Ross at the top of his game´ Liam McIlvanney

`A masterpiece from one of Glasgow's finest authors … epic in scale but told through the deeply personal accounts of its luckless, damaged characters. Told with a wit as sharp as any razor´ Callum McSorley

`David has a seemingly natural gift for pungently memorable phrasing and dialogue that feels you're listening in rather than reading´ Damian Barr

`This fiction is furious. David F. Ross goes deep and dark, in an attempt to understand the criminal mind [and] writes with a righteous anger as he examines the evil that men do´ Alistair Braidwood, Scots Whay Hae

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Glasgow, 1966: Stevie 'Minto' Milloy, former star footballer-turned-rookie reporter, finds himself trailing the story of a young Eastern European student whose body has been found on remote moorland outside the city. How did she get there from her hostel at the Sovereign Grace Mission, and why does Stevie find obstacles at every turn?

Italy, 1943: As the Allies fight Mussolini's troops, a group of young soldiers are separated from their platoon, and Glaswegian Jamesie Campbell, his newfound friend Michael McTavish at his side, finds himself free to make his own rules…

Glasgow, 1969: Courtroom sketch artist Donald 'Doodle' Malpas is shocked to discover that his new case involves the murder of a teenage Lithuanian girl he knows from the Sovereign Grace Mission. Why hasn't the girl's death been reported? And why is a young police constable suddenly so keen to join the mission?

No one seems willing to join the dots between the two cases, and how they link to Raskine House, the stately home in the Scottish countryside with a dark history and even darker present – the venue for the debauched parties held there by the rich and powerful of the city who call themselves 'The Weekenders'.

Painting a picture of a 1960s Glasgow in the throes of a permissive society, pulled apart by religion, corruption, and a murderous Bible John stalking the streets, The Weekenders is a snapshot of an era of turmoil – and a terrifying insight into the mind of a ruthless criminal…