1. he worked for 15 years as an English teacher. Novelist William McIlvanney was born in 1936 in Kirmarnock and studied at the Academy there, before going on to read an MA in English at the University of Glasgow. After graduating in 1960, he worked for 15 years as an English teacher. He is best known for his gritty portrayals of working class life in 1970s Glasgow and Kilmarnock (fictionalised as "Graithnock").

2. Jack Laidlaw's Glasgow is a city of hard men, powerful villains and self-made businessmen, of big industry and its victims, of enduring women, terrible slums and, one morning, of murder. An unorthodox detective who cloaks compassion with sardonic wit, Laidlaw knows the right questions to ask, threading his way through the pubs and clubs, the bookies' and tenements, trying to find the killer of a young, apparently innocent girl.

3. This was a misreading of McIlvanney’s intention and of the novel itself. Laidlaw (1977) surprised many critics who had admired McIlvanney’s first three novels. Since his fourth has a Glasgow detective inspector as central character and deals with a violent rape and murder, they categorised it as a crime novel and considered that the author had gone downmarket. This was a misreading of McIlvanney’s intention and of the novel itself. less an example of the traditional detective story than an attempted challenge to it’. He has said that Laidlaw is ‘not a whodunnit [but] a whydunnit’ (we know the identity of the murderer from page one) and ‘ less an example of the traditional detective story than an attempted challenge to it’. maverick, a university dropout, a rebel against authority and an unfaithful husbandempathy* with the criminals he pursues, Jack Laidlaw, like other fictional detectives, is a maverick, a university dropout, a rebel against authority and an unfaithful husband. Particularly notable, however, is his empathy* with the criminals he pursues, not because he approves of their crimes but because he knows that he himself is flawed. complex character complexity of life: everyone is a mixture of good and badthe frontier between law-abiding and criminal is narrow and easily crossed. Laidlaw is a complex character and acknowledges the complexity of life: everyone is a mixture of good and bad, and the frontier between law-abiding and criminal is narrow and easily crossed. The background to the Laidlaw novels is the city of Glasgow, a symbol of this complexity, famously combining humour and kindness with deprivation, ugliness and cruelty. * sympathy, understanding, compassion for

4. Tartan Noir is a form of crime fiction particular to Scotland and Scottish writers. It has its roots in Scottish literature but borrows elements from elsewhere, including from the work of American crime writers of the second half of the twentieth century, especially of the hard-boiled genre, and of European authors.crime fictionScotlandScottishScottish literaturehard-boiled McIlvanney's Laidlaw novel has been called the first novel of the tartan noir genre, given its combination of humanism and police procedural. While Laidlaw is critically important, and a novel that inspired many authors, the TV series Taggart established crime in a Scottish setting in the popular imagination. Glenn Chandler, creator of Taggart and writer of many of its early stories, may have been inspired by Laidlaw. Both share a Glasgow setting and involve the investigations by Glasgow police into murders.TaggartGlenn ChandlerLaidlawGlasgowGlasgow police

5. Characteristics Many of the protagonists in Tartan Noir stories are anti-heroes, with readers not automatically being expected to sympathise with them. The world-view of Tartan Noir tends toward the cynical and world-weary, typified by "hard-boiled". Many of the protagonists in Tartan Noir stories are anti-heroes, with readers not automatically being expected to sympathise with them. anti-heroes main characters often go through personal crises The main characters often go through personal crises in the course of the stories, with these crises often forming a key part of the story. personal reasons for dealing with the crime, whether from personal history or a sense of right and wrong The main character frequently has personal reasons for dealing with the crime, whether from personal history or a sense of right and wrong.

7. It is common for Calvinism to be seen as a narrow and mean spirited view that concentrates on a few passages from the Bible, There are few more misunderstood theologies than Calvinism. It is common for Calvinism to be seen as a narrow and mean spirited view that concentrates on a few passages from the Bible, passages that are both taken out of context and that distort the Christian Gospel.