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The Cut Up
It’s hard to be good when living is expensive. And times are tough on the streets these days. Luckily for Rilke at Bowery Auctions the demand for no-questions-asked cash is at an all-time high, and business is booming.
When Rilke hears his old acquaintance Les is fresh out of prison, his inclination is to stay well out of his way. Letting sleeping dogs lie is one thing – but when one of Bowery’s customers winds up dead on their tarmac, Rilke needs a bit of help from his friends to tidy things up. If only his friends didn’t have such a habit of making things worse.
When Rilke hears his old acquaintance Les is fresh out of prison, his inclination is to stay well out of his way. Letting sleeping dogs lie is one thing – but when one of Bowery’s customers winds up dead on their tarmac, Rilke needs a bit of help from his friends to tidy things up. If only his friends didn’t have such a habit of making things worse.
- GenresCrime
321 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 29, 2026
22 people are currently reading
83 people want to read
About the author
Louise Welsh
50 books342 followersAfter studying history at Glasgow University, Louise Welsh established a second-hand bookshop, where she worked for many years. Her first novel, The Cutting Room, won several awards, including the 2002 Crime Writers’ Association John Creasey Memorial Dagger, and was jointly awarded the 2002 Saltire Society Scottish First Book of the Year Award. Louise was granted a Robert Louis Stevenson Memorial Award in 2003, a Scotland on Sunday/Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award in 2004, and a Hawthornden Fellowship in 2005.
She is a regular radio broadcaster, has published many short stories, and has contributed articles and reviews to most of the British broadsheets. She has also written for the stage. The Guardian chose her as a 'woman to watch' in 2003.
Her second book, Tamburlaine Must Die, a novelette written around the final three days of the poet Christopher Marlowe's life, was published in 2004. Her third novel, The Bullet Trick (2006), is a present-day murder mystery set in Berlin.
The Cutting Room 2002
Tamburlaine Must Die 2004
The Bullet Trick 2006
Naming The Bones 2010
Prizes and awards
2002 Crime Writers' Association John Creasey Memorial Dagger The Cutting Room
2002 Saltire Society Scottish First Book of the Year Award (joint winner) The Cutting Room
2003 BBC Underground Award (writer category) The Cutting Room
2003 Robert Louis Stevenson Memorial Award
2004 Corine Internationaler Buchpreis: Rolf Heyne Debutpreis (Germany) The Cutting Room
2004 Scotland on Sunday/Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award
2004 Stonewall Book Award (US) (honor in literature)
She is a regular radio broadcaster, has published many short stories, and has contributed articles and reviews to most of the British broadsheets. She has also written for the stage. The Guardian chose her as a 'woman to watch' in 2003.
Her second book, Tamburlaine Must Die, a novelette written around the final three days of the poet Christopher Marlowe's life, was published in 2004. Her third novel, The Bullet Trick (2006), is a present-day murder mystery set in Berlin.
The Cutting Room 2002
Tamburlaine Must Die 2004
The Bullet Trick 2006
Naming The Bones 2010
Prizes and awards
2002 Crime Writers' Association John Creasey Memorial Dagger The Cutting Room
2002 Saltire Society Scottish First Book of the Year Award (joint winner) The Cutting Room
2003 BBC Underground Award (writer category) The Cutting Room
2003 Robert Louis Stevenson Memorial Award
2004 Corine Internationaler Buchpreis: Rolf Heyne Debutpreis (Germany) The Cutting Room
2004 Scotland on Sunday/Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award
2004 Stonewall Book Award (US) (honor in literature)
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 8, 2026
‘The Cut Up’ is the third book to feature Rilke, the unlucky antiques expert, and it is just as brilliant as the other books in this series. This can be easily read as a stand-alone, though, as the story is self-contained. I do recommend the whole series, as they are truly excellent books. Also, the audiobooks are brilliant - the narrator is Alan Cumming!
There is something special when an author manages to transfer the essence of a place to their books, and this is definitely the case here. I could pick up this book and instantly know it was set in Glasgow. It has that gallus, braw character, seeped in its working-class identity and its newly polished sheen wearing off in places. Rilke and his boss, Rose, occupy the grey shadows of the city. They are involved in crime, but they don’t mean to be. They live in an industry where cash is king, no questions are asked, and whilst they know the bad guys, they still are ‘good’. Basically, they do it for the right reasons!
When Rilke finds a body outside the auction house, stabbed through the eye with a Victorian hat pin. A hat pin that Rose was wearing just that afternoon in her hair. The victim is a jewellery dealer, Mandy, and soon Rilke is pulled into investigating the death, not just to protect Rose, but also to save his friend, Les. Les has just been released from prison, and a week in is already in trouble with the local gangster. The only way to help him is by solving the murder.
Louise’s writing is outstanding, and it has a comfort to it. It is like returning to an old friend and getting a huge hug. It’s easy but also seductive. You can easily dive in and not surface until you have read the last page! It is dry and witty, full of fun moments but also thought-provoking around the issues of queer safety. It is a joy to return to the world of Rilke, and I am hoping that there will be another book coming!
Let me know if you pick this one up.
February 6, 2026
It’s a testament to the quality of the writing in Louise Welsh’s The Cut Up that it more than held my attention.
You can read this book as a stand-alone, but for me, part of the joy is getting reacquainted with Rilke, whom we last met in The Second Cut.
Louise Welsh brings an easy familiarity to the city of Glasgow and at the same time pokes under its flabby belly to expose a raw and sometimes paper-thin skin. Her writing is sharp, funny and insidious. Her characters are glorious; brilliantly drawn, they get under your skin, and their humanity shines through even when the morality is somewhat ambiguous.
Rilke, the lean, cadaverous auctioneer with his own moral compass, is our narrator: he’s lugubrious, witty, and he shambles through Glasgow’s underbelly with a weary charm. More often than not, his tall, spare figure and vintage suit get him mistaken for an undertaker.
The novel’s opening — ‘it’s hard to be good when living is expensive’ — is a theme in the book. Crime is often the result of financial pressure. Her characters aren’t necessarily bad, just desperate to survive. Cash transactions with no questions asked, side hustles and moral compromises are treated as practical responses to a harsh economy rather than wrongdoing.
Rilke himself lives in the grey. His inherent weakness is his loyalty to his friends, however unreliable and touched with criminality they may be. It’s a weakness that has got him into trouble more than once, and this time proves almost fatal. Rilke is older now, and more reflective. The Cut Up examines what it means to age within a criminal system that rewards sharpness and youth. Rilke himself isn’t corrupt, but he is flexible, and Welsh leads us to consider where the line is between helping, enabling, and being complicit. She shows how one small decision shapes another, until right and wrong become blurred.
From the opening pages, Welsh drops you into tough streets, expensive to live in, and full of characters who slide easily between the legal and the criminal. Glasgow is a living, breathing presence in her story: grey and rain-soaked but alive with dark humour.
Rilke finds a body outside the Bowery Auctions, where he works as an auctioneer. The murderer stabbed a Victorian hatpin into the eye of a sleazeball jewellery dealer, Rodney Manderson, known to both Rilke and his employer, Rose, as Mandy. Finding his body gives Rilke his first quandary. Only that afternoon, Rose was wearing that very same hat pin.
Rilke is forced into investigating Mandy’s murder to save his drug-dealing, cross-dressing friend Les, recently released from prison on parole. Les is trying to tread a tightrope between his arch-nemesis, Detective Thurso Scanlan, and a local gangster known as ‘Razzle Dazzle’ Diamond. But without Rilke’s help, Les is going to topple into disaster.
One of the reasons I love Rilke’s character is the way Louise Welsh portrays Rilke’s vulnerability. Being queer in Glasgow, even today, is not comfortable. Rilke has his share of offers, but each time he has to stop and consider the danger any of these encounters might present. The need for an alleviation of loneliness, for the closeness of bodies and for sex itself must be weighed, each time, against the potential harm that could be caused by Rilke’s succumbing to hasty pleasure.
I love the aspects of this novel that pay quiet homage to classic noir. Following a trail that involves a high-class knocking shop, a porn site and a boy’s school, Rilke finds a bottle blonde who drives a red-hot car and who is, as she tells him, ‘protected’. Barely keeping out of serious harm and making one too many compromises, Rilke cannot escape what is due to him.
Verdict: The Cut Up is stylish, dryly witty and accomplished. Rilke is a character you can’t help but like, and the plot goes in directions I didn’t anticipate. The resolution is well realised and beautifully reflects Rilke’s place in the grey.
Highly recommended.
You can read this book as a stand-alone, but for me, part of the joy is getting reacquainted with Rilke, whom we last met in The Second Cut.
Louise Welsh brings an easy familiarity to the city of Glasgow and at the same time pokes under its flabby belly to expose a raw and sometimes paper-thin skin. Her writing is sharp, funny and insidious. Her characters are glorious; brilliantly drawn, they get under your skin, and their humanity shines through even when the morality is somewhat ambiguous.
Rilke, the lean, cadaverous auctioneer with his own moral compass, is our narrator: he’s lugubrious, witty, and he shambles through Glasgow’s underbelly with a weary charm. More often than not, his tall, spare figure and vintage suit get him mistaken for an undertaker.
The novel’s opening — ‘it’s hard to be good when living is expensive’ — is a theme in the book. Crime is often the result of financial pressure. Her characters aren’t necessarily bad, just desperate to survive. Cash transactions with no questions asked, side hustles and moral compromises are treated as practical responses to a harsh economy rather than wrongdoing.
Rilke himself lives in the grey. His inherent weakness is his loyalty to his friends, however unreliable and touched with criminality they may be. It’s a weakness that has got him into trouble more than once, and this time proves almost fatal. Rilke is older now, and more reflective. The Cut Up examines what it means to age within a criminal system that rewards sharpness and youth. Rilke himself isn’t corrupt, but he is flexible, and Welsh leads us to consider where the line is between helping, enabling, and being complicit. She shows how one small decision shapes another, until right and wrong become blurred.
From the opening pages, Welsh drops you into tough streets, expensive to live in, and full of characters who slide easily between the legal and the criminal. Glasgow is a living, breathing presence in her story: grey and rain-soaked but alive with dark humour.
Rilke finds a body outside the Bowery Auctions, where he works as an auctioneer. The murderer stabbed a Victorian hatpin into the eye of a sleazeball jewellery dealer, Rodney Manderson, known to both Rilke and his employer, Rose, as Mandy. Finding his body gives Rilke his first quandary. Only that afternoon, Rose was wearing that very same hat pin.
Rilke is forced into investigating Mandy’s murder to save his drug-dealing, cross-dressing friend Les, recently released from prison on parole. Les is trying to tread a tightrope between his arch-nemesis, Detective Thurso Scanlan, and a local gangster known as ‘Razzle Dazzle’ Diamond. But without Rilke’s help, Les is going to topple into disaster.
One of the reasons I love Rilke’s character is the way Louise Welsh portrays Rilke’s vulnerability. Being queer in Glasgow, even today, is not comfortable. Rilke has his share of offers, but each time he has to stop and consider the danger any of these encounters might present. The need for an alleviation of loneliness, for the closeness of bodies and for sex itself must be weighed, each time, against the potential harm that could be caused by Rilke’s succumbing to hasty pleasure.
I love the aspects of this novel that pay quiet homage to classic noir. Following a trail that involves a high-class knocking shop, a porn site and a boy’s school, Rilke finds a bottle blonde who drives a red-hot car and who is, as she tells him, ‘protected’. Barely keeping out of serious harm and making one too many compromises, Rilke cannot escape what is due to him.
Verdict: The Cut Up is stylish, dryly witty and accomplished. Rilke is a character you can’t help but like, and the plot goes in directions I didn’t anticipate. The resolution is well realised and beautifully reflects Rilke’s place in the grey.
Highly recommended.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This is the third book featuring Rilke - The Cutting Room and The Second Cut being the first two. And you know what I am going to say... Although this could be read as a standalone as the story is self contained...
To be honest, I didn't read the previous books, I actually let Alan Cumming read them to me, which was an absolute delight. If ever a narrator really fit a main character... So, if that is your preferred medium of getting your stories, I would definitely recommend you take that path. Me, I'm going to get my mitts on the audiobook as soon as it is released just so I can complete the set...
So... we start with Rilke coming across the body of Rodney Manderson, one of Bowery Auction's "colourful" and not wholly liked (understatement) clients. He is lying dead in the alley just outside the auction house with a rather lovely Victorian hat pin sticking out of his eye. The self same pin that was last seen in the hands of his boss, Rose Bowery. So he removes it, wipes it down and replaces it with others of the same ilk. And then he calls the Police.
I love Rilke. I especially love Alan Cumming's depiction of Rilke. And I did find myself reading this book in his voice! Which was a bit bizarre but also strangely comforting. He's loyal to those he cares about and has the most wonderful sense of humour, and biting comebacks. He's also developing quite the knack of investigating the shenanigans he keeps getting caught up in. Although he does stumble into a lot of his solutions rather than going there direct! And with a character such as Manderson with many enemies, he really does have his work cut out for him. As well as helping an old friend who has just come out of prison...
I love Rilke so much as a character and his acerbic wit and banter with the other characters that, at times, I almost forgot that there was a mystery to be solved! Almost but not quite, and said mystery was interesting and intriguing and held me rapt all the way through. And I was left, at the end, wholly satisfied but with a tinge of sadness as having to say goodbye to Rilke once again. Until the Audiobook comes out...
All in all, a cracking addition to another of my favourite series. Roll on next time... Hopefully soon... My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
To be honest, I didn't read the previous books, I actually let Alan Cumming read them to me, which was an absolute delight. If ever a narrator really fit a main character... So, if that is your preferred medium of getting your stories, I would definitely recommend you take that path. Me, I'm going to get my mitts on the audiobook as soon as it is released just so I can complete the set...
So... we start with Rilke coming across the body of Rodney Manderson, one of Bowery Auction's "colourful" and not wholly liked (understatement) clients. He is lying dead in the alley just outside the auction house with a rather lovely Victorian hat pin sticking out of his eye. The self same pin that was last seen in the hands of his boss, Rose Bowery. So he removes it, wipes it down and replaces it with others of the same ilk. And then he calls the Police.
I love Rilke. I especially love Alan Cumming's depiction of Rilke. And I did find myself reading this book in his voice! Which was a bit bizarre but also strangely comforting. He's loyal to those he cares about and has the most wonderful sense of humour, and biting comebacks. He's also developing quite the knack of investigating the shenanigans he keeps getting caught up in. Although he does stumble into a lot of his solutions rather than going there direct! And with a character such as Manderson with many enemies, he really does have his work cut out for him. As well as helping an old friend who has just come out of prison...
I love Rilke so much as a character and his acerbic wit and banter with the other characters that, at times, I almost forgot that there was a mystery to be solved! Almost but not quite, and said mystery was interesting and intriguing and held me rapt all the way through. And I was left, at the end, wholly satisfied but with a tinge of sadness as having to say goodbye to Rilke once again. Until the Audiobook comes out...
All in all, a cracking addition to another of my favourite series. Roll on next time... Hopefully soon... My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
November 16, 2025
Any pointed object can be used to kill. If it’s a narrow, bendy object, aim for somewhere soft; a hat pin, for example, is best aimed for the eye. The last time Rilke saw this particular Victorian hat pin it was decorating the hair of his boss, Rose Bowery, owner of Bowery Auctioneers. The next time he saw it, was in an alley outside the auction house, where it was embedded in the eye, and therefore the brain, of Rodney Manderson. Ever the Gallant, Rilke’s reaction is to remove any suspicion falling on Rose by removing it, cleaning it, and hiding it in a job lot of other pins. Everyone at the auction house is questioned, of course, with particular attention being paid to Rilke, since he found the body, but also because he is, as the saying goes, ‘known to the police’. However, Manderson, a collector of antique jewellery, was universally despised, even hated, so a potentially large proportion of the Glasgow population could be considered suspects. When the job lot of pins is sold to an unlikely purchaser, acting for someone unknown, Rilke decides to investigate.
Murder mysteries set in Glasgow can tend to be on the gritty side, with lots of graphic violence. This certainly doesn’t avoid such tropes, but is less ‘noir’, more cerebral, more classic detection in style. This is the third book to feature Rilke but can be read as a standalone. The main story is intertwined with another in which Rilke is helping an old, gay friend, Les, who has just been released from prison, and this more obviously leans to the ‘noir’. This strand does provide some characterisation and a valuable link to information pertinent to the murder investigation, and gets around some ‘coincidence’ issues. For some reason the publisher’s blurb seems to play up this story line, which I think is misleading. Overall, I’m a bit conflicted, and leaning towards 4 stars. However, I’m going to say 4.5 stars (rounded to 5) because the main plot is good, the clues are not obvious but evident in hindsight, there is good use of misdirection, the characters are well drawn and the writing and language are convincing.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.
Murder mysteries set in Glasgow can tend to be on the gritty side, with lots of graphic violence. This certainly doesn’t avoid such tropes, but is less ‘noir’, more cerebral, more classic detection in style. This is the third book to feature Rilke but can be read as a standalone. The main story is intertwined with another in which Rilke is helping an old, gay friend, Les, who has just been released from prison, and this more obviously leans to the ‘noir’. This strand does provide some characterisation and a valuable link to information pertinent to the murder investigation, and gets around some ‘coincidence’ issues. For some reason the publisher’s blurb seems to play up this story line, which I think is misleading. Overall, I’m a bit conflicted, and leaning towards 4 stars. However, I’m going to say 4.5 stars (rounded to 5) because the main plot is good, the clues are not obvious but evident in hindsight, there is good use of misdirection, the characters are well drawn and the writing and language are convincing.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.
January 31, 2026
Louise Welsh's 2002 debut, The Cutting Room, is a crime novel at the literary end of the scale. I was blown away by it, so it has been a treat to get further glimpses into Rilke's life in The Second Cut and now The Cut Up.
We open on a grey October afternoon as Rilke, locking up at Bowery Auctions, makes the grim discovery of a body just outside the premises: Rodney "Mandy" Manderson, a jewellery dealer and a man no-one liked. However, the murder weapon, still in place, is distinctive and damning, and Rilke cannot help but think what could happen if it was found...
Meanwhile, Rilke's friend Les, fresh from prison, has a sob story: a young woman is being pimped by her boyfriend; will Rilke help her escape? Well, it's not quite that straightforward... And there's a lot of that running through this novel; things have a tendency to not go as Rilke would like them to, or expects them to, but he follows the path despite its increasingly serious pitfalls.
Themes of grey areas, shadows, hints, secrets, and trust have run through all three Rilke novels, and the evolution of the character himself. He has few friends as he finds it hard to trust, but he is fiercely, perhaps even foolishly, loyal to those he has.
The pace is unhurried, the style quiet but precise, and yet there is also a decent amount of action and twists and turns. The denouement is at a house which contains myriad secrets, and is the seat of a woman schooled in manipulation - with one final piece of manipulation leaving all those present with a deadly secret to keep. And then that decision of Rilke's in the opening pages comes back to bite him - but we also find in the epilogue that justice has been served elsewhere.
Grey areas, underground secrets and hidden lives; the parts of Glasgow between the Dear Green Place and No Mean City; slipping between the respectable and the less so. This is where Rilke lives, and it's fascinating to visit.
We open on a grey October afternoon as Rilke, locking up at Bowery Auctions, makes the grim discovery of a body just outside the premises: Rodney "Mandy" Manderson, a jewellery dealer and a man no-one liked. However, the murder weapon, still in place, is distinctive and damning, and Rilke cannot help but think what could happen if it was found...
Meanwhile, Rilke's friend Les, fresh from prison, has a sob story: a young woman is being pimped by her boyfriend; will Rilke help her escape? Well, it's not quite that straightforward... And there's a lot of that running through this novel; things have a tendency to not go as Rilke would like them to, or expects them to, but he follows the path despite its increasingly serious pitfalls.
Themes of grey areas, shadows, hints, secrets, and trust have run through all three Rilke novels, and the evolution of the character himself. He has few friends as he finds it hard to trust, but he is fiercely, perhaps even foolishly, loyal to those he has.
The pace is unhurried, the style quiet but precise, and yet there is also a decent amount of action and twists and turns. The denouement is at a house which contains myriad secrets, and is the seat of a woman schooled in manipulation - with one final piece of manipulation leaving all those present with a deadly secret to keep. And then that decision of Rilke's in the opening pages comes back to bite him - but we also find in the epilogue that justice has been served elsewhere.
Grey areas, underground secrets and hidden lives; the parts of Glasgow between the Dear Green Place and No Mean City; slipping between the respectable and the less so. This is where Rilke lives, and it's fascinating to visit.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Rilke’s novels are a treat. They are a noir very close to my heart and they take place in a town where grey is the main colour and the characters are always flawed and move along a shifting moral spectrum.
I read another book in this series and the first one is still on my TBR. It is something to enjoy at the right moment while appreciating the excellent storytelling and the quirky characters and their community.
There is a lot happening in this novel. It begins with a bang and it moves like a waltz that keeps you turning pages and enjoying the antics and the drama of a world where nothing is what it seems.
It is one of those books that keep you reading late into the night because there is always something new that holds your attention.
Give yourself a gift and read this novel. Enjoy the pleasure of the writing style and the well rounded characters.
I loved it and I had fun and I hope many people will share the joy of reading this story.
Go read it. It is worth the prize.
Highly recommended.
I read another book in this series and the first one is still on my TBR. It is something to enjoy at the right moment while appreciating the excellent storytelling and the quirky characters and their community.
There is a lot happening in this novel. It begins with a bang and it moves like a waltz that keeps you turning pages and enjoying the antics and the drama of a world where nothing is what it seems.
It is one of those books that keep you reading late into the night because there is always something new that holds your attention.
Give yourself a gift and read this novel. Enjoy the pleasure of the writing style and the well rounded characters.
I loved it and I had fun and I hope many people will share the joy of reading this story.
Go read it. It is worth the prize.
Highly recommended.
Review of advance copy
The third novel featuring Rilke but reads well as a stand-alone. Set in Glasgow where Rilke works at Bowery Auctions, a rather dubious business where cash transactions are king and no questions asked. I really enjoy this authors writing, it’s complex without being difficult and very compelling.
Briefly, Rilke finds a rather unpleasant customer dead near the auction house with a hat pin through his eye. He last saw that same hairpin with the auction house boss, Rose Bowery, so before calling the police he removes it and hides it in plain sight. Alongside this there is a secondary story about a former friend of Rilke who has recently been released from prison.
As you might expect of a novel set in the Glasgow criminal underworld this is a gritty and dark novel but not unnecessarily disturbing. Rilke is a great character, the more I get to know him the more I like him, his sarcastic humour really makes me smile and he’s loyal to a fault. The two threads meet up in an unexpected way and the plot was pretty much perfect. An atmospheric thriller and an entertaining read. 4,5⭐️
Briefly, Rilke finds a rather unpleasant customer dead near the auction house with a hat pin through his eye. He last saw that same hairpin with the auction house boss, Rose Bowery, so before calling the police he removes it and hides it in plain sight. Alongside this there is a secondary story about a former friend of Rilke who has recently been released from prison.
As you might expect of a novel set in the Glasgow criminal underworld this is a gritty and dark novel but not unnecessarily disturbing. Rilke is a great character, the more I get to know him the more I like him, his sarcastic humour really makes me smile and he’s loyal to a fault. The two threads meet up in an unexpected way and the plot was pretty much perfect. An atmospheric thriller and an entertaining read. 4,5⭐️
February 9, 2026
Louise Welsh is devastatingly under-appreciated. I cannot begin to describe how much I relish picking up one of her books, and this one was no exception!! This is book three in the Rilke series - and I would absolutely recommend reading the first two before this one - but if you are especially taken by the look of this Louise does an excellent job of introducing the world and characters.
Rilke is a gay, Glaswegian auctioneer - he's dry, witty, and he's been through some wild times. In this book, he finds himself mixed up in a murder investigation, and he and a cast of colourful (and very loveable) friends work together to get themselves clear of it. "The Cut Up" is a hugely enjoyable romp across Glasgow, equal parts funny and gritty. I hope we will keep seeing more Rilke books in the years to come, as he has quickly taken top place of my all my favourite characters in crime/thriller fiction!
Rilke is a gay, Glaswegian auctioneer - he's dry, witty, and he's been through some wild times. In this book, he finds himself mixed up in a murder investigation, and he and a cast of colourful (and very loveable) friends work together to get themselves clear of it. "The Cut Up" is a hugely enjoyable romp across Glasgow, equal parts funny and gritty. I hope we will keep seeing more Rilke books in the years to come, as he has quickly taken top place of my all my favourite characters in crime/thriller fiction!
January 31, 2026
Does anyone ever write a review of a novel set in Glasgow that doesn’t include the word ‘gritty’?
This one isn’t quite the exception to that rule but, as anyone who has read the preceding novels in the series will know, here the leaning is more towards noire.
Rilke works at The Bowery auction house with his best friend and femme fatale, Rose. When he discovers the body of Rodney Manderson, an insalubrious occasional customer on the premises, he decides to take action against Rose’s possible implication.
The charm of this book is in the sly humour and the relationship between characters as much as in the unraveling of the murder mystery itself. The leavening of unpleasant truths and the seamier underbelly of Glasgow with humour is finely balanced and makes you read on with relish.
With thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an arc of this book.
This one isn’t quite the exception to that rule but, as anyone who has read the preceding novels in the series will know, here the leaning is more towards noire.
Rilke works at The Bowery auction house with his best friend and femme fatale, Rose. When he discovers the body of Rodney Manderson, an insalubrious occasional customer on the premises, he decides to take action against Rose’s possible implication.
The charm of this book is in the sly humour and the relationship between characters as much as in the unraveling of the murder mystery itself. The leavening of unpleasant truths and the seamier underbelly of Glasgow with humour is finely balanced and makes you read on with relish.
With thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an arc of this book.
February 10, 2026
My Thoughts: I feel like maybe this is the wrong word to use for a crime thriller but I found this one to be a lot of fun! – I loved Rilke as a character, I found his personality changed depending on who he was around and what he was dealing with, he could be warm and kind but then on the other hand sassy and sarcastic, he really kept me on my toes!
This is the first book I have read in the series and although at times I felt like I’d missed out on a little of the back story I did find that it read absolutely fine as a stand alone!
Rilke is just shutting up the auction house when he finds a long term customer of theirs dead with a hat pin through his eye, the same hat pin that he knew his boss/best friend was wearing earlier in the day, so he does the unthinkable and gets rid of the evidence, not knowing that it will select off a whole new chain reaction that he will find himself in the middle of!
This was fast paced, with a bunch of characters that all took the story in a different direction but could have been equally culpable.
It had my head not knowing what direction the story was going in but having Rilkes constant presence almost helped to ground us so we didn’t lose the story!
Thoroughly enjoyed it & it’s made me want to read the rest of the series!
This is the first book I have read in the series and although at times I felt like I’d missed out on a little of the back story I did find that it read absolutely fine as a stand alone!
Rilke is just shutting up the auction house when he finds a long term customer of theirs dead with a hat pin through his eye, the same hat pin that he knew his boss/best friend was wearing earlier in the day, so he does the unthinkable and gets rid of the evidence, not knowing that it will select off a whole new chain reaction that he will find himself in the middle of!
This was fast paced, with a bunch of characters that all took the story in a different direction but could have been equally culpable.
It had my head not knowing what direction the story was going in but having Rilkes constant presence almost helped to ground us so we didn’t lose the story!
Thoroughly enjoyed it & it’s made me want to read the rest of the series!
Review of advance copy
The Cut Up is my first read by Welsh and I devoured it in one sitting. I thoroughly enjoyed this murder mystery set in Glasgow. Rilke comes across the body of Rodney Manderson, one of Bowery Auctions client. A Victorian hat pin embedded in the eyes. But the last time he saw that pin, it was in the hair of his boss.
The story starts off nice and slow with introduction of the characters. The pace soon picks up with actions and a pool of suspects. The story also intertwined with Rilke's friend Les, who has just been released from prison.
I loved the writing style and enjoyed how the clues were imbedded. I'd definitely say 4.5 stars. Highly recommend this book.
The story starts off nice and slow with introduction of the characters. The pace soon picks up with actions and a pool of suspects. The story also intertwined with Rilke's friend Les, who has just been released from prison.
I loved the writing style and enjoyed how the clues were imbedded. I'd definitely say 4.5 stars. Highly recommend this book.
January 31, 2026
Previous books in the Rilke series have been strong and solid crime thrillers, with Rilke thrust into investigating the murder of a patron of the auction house.
Most of the regular elements are still in place and Rilke is a strong and likeable character. The plot works well as Rilke struggles to find evidence of the perpetrator and investigations finally lead to an old boys home.
Child abuse has become something of a trope in crime fiction and in this case only links indirectly to the murderer.
Where the book loses its way is in the final chapters, with unconvincing dialogue and a twist that only Rilke doesn’t see coming. And the postscript is just silly.
Most of the regular elements are still in place and Rilke is a strong and likeable character. The plot works well as Rilke struggles to find evidence of the perpetrator and investigations finally lead to an old boys home.
Child abuse has become something of a trope in crime fiction and in this case only links indirectly to the murderer.
Where the book loses its way is in the final chapters, with unconvincing dialogue and a twist that only Rilke doesn’t see coming. And the postscript is just silly.
September 26, 2025
Sometimes I'll come across a character, and just think "oh! I like you!"
So it was with Rilke.
He's one I'm going to be happy to read more of.
Him, and his friends, and his place of work.
Right up my street.
This one starts off easily enough, but within a few pages it feels like anybody could have done it, so narrowing down the suspect list is quite the task.
Took me places I didn't expect, but certainly enjoyed.
A thoroughly entertaining read.
So it was with Rilke.
He's one I'm going to be happy to read more of.
Him, and his friends, and his place of work.
Right up my street.
This one starts off easily enough, but within a few pages it feels like anybody could have done it, so narrowing down the suspect list is quite the task.
Took me places I didn't expect, but certainly enjoyed.
A thoroughly entertaining read.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Rilke finds a man he knows murdered in the car park outside his workplace. He doesn’t know who did it but he immediately has a suspicion which leads him into trying to investigate himself.
Another great story from Louise Welsh which has all the gallus-ness of the city in which the book is set.
Rilke is never far from trouble and his friends only ever seem to dig him deeper!
Thanks to NetGalley, Canongate and Louise Welsh for the treat of reading this ARC.
Another great story from Louise Welsh which has all the gallus-ness of the city in which the book is set.
Rilke is never far from trouble and his friends only ever seem to dig him deeper!
Thanks to NetGalley, Canongate and Louise Welsh for the treat of reading this ARC.
February 2, 2026
This is the third book in the series but each can be read as a standalone, I’m a big fan of Louise Welsh so jumped at the chance of this tour.
This is such a great set of books, dark and chilling and a cracking mystery to be solved.
Rilke is such a well written character I find myself fully invested in the story and such a hard read to put down, it starts off with a quite unpleasant murder and the suspense and twists make this a gritty read.
I cannot wait for the next instalment
This is such a great set of books, dark and chilling and a cracking mystery to be solved.
Rilke is such a well written character I find myself fully invested in the story and such a hard read to put down, it starts off with a quite unpleasant murder and the suspense and twists make this a gritty read.
I cannot wait for the next instalment
February 3, 2026
The third thriller featuring the brilliantly imagined and depicted anti-hero, Rilke and perhaps the best in the series.
A gritty, noir Glasgow based murder mystery and the settings are so authentic and the plot sizzles.
Excellent stuff!
A gritty, noir Glasgow based murder mystery and the settings are so authentic and the plot sizzles.
Excellent stuff!
February 3, 2026
a great pleasure
This is a great pleasure for us mystery fans. Fast moving, complex and full of very human beings. Gritty noir set in Glasgow, a perfectly noir place.
This is a great pleasure for us mystery fans. Fast moving, complex and full of very human beings. Gritty noir set in Glasgow, a perfectly noir place.
February 10, 2026
Really enjoyed this series.
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