Ways to Die in Glasgow is a mystery set in Glasgow, living up to all of the stereotypes of Glasgow being a crime-ridden city full of drunks. It starts out with two people coming to kill Mackie, but they end up killing the woman he is having sex with and his dog, and he manages to kill them. Then he is on the run, and he has people looking for him, including his therapist. Mackie has hallucinations due to his drinking, but he is coherent enough to tell his story, and he of often very funny. There are multiple narrators, performed by Napoleon Ryan and Heather Wilds on the unabridged audiobook. The audiobook performance is good, having legitimate Scottish accents, which is absolutely essential here. It’s a crude and humanistic book full of profanity and disgusting events, so it isn’t for everyone. It’s more appealing for the tone of the book than the particular plot details which are not so important: it’s hard to care about the outcome. But this is enjoyable listen nevertheless.

© 2018 Christian Perring

Christian Perring teaches in NYC.