Louise Welsh was unknown to me until recently when I read The Cutting Room after which she was immediately added to my favourite authors. This book, the second in the series, was written twenty years later although she appears to have picked up where she left off and the characters have aged little. Rilke, the melancholy auctioneer at Bowery Auctions in Glasgow is no longer prowling through parks searching for casual sex, but finding partners on Grindr. His present job is overseeing an estate sale for a pair of cousins who claim they need to money to provide care for their elderly relative, the owner of the mansion. There is something not quite right, but Rilke and his boss, Rose Bowery, satisfied themselves that there is nothing illegal in the sale. Welsh portrays all of the characters in detail, neglecting none, while giving a description of gay nightlife in Glasgow including some more sordid events. The plot, set in a unique location, is excellent, complex enough to make it compelling but not overly complicated. She takes the reader to what appears to be predictable places via surprising paths. I really hope Welsh follows up soon with more in this fabulous series. ( )

Twenty years on from his first appearance, Louise Welsh reintroduces us to Rilke, the lugubrious lead auctioneer and General Manager at Bowery Auctions in Glasgow. He still has his extensive network of shady contacts, many (most?) of whom have a fairly flexible relationship with the law. One of them tips him off about a possible house clearance which may include some items beyond the ordinary bill of fare. It transpires that two cousins are anxious to clear out the family home on a farm in Galloway with a view to financing residential care for an elderly relative.

Right from the start, Rilke feels uncomfortable with the set up at the property, and suspects that there is some nefarious twist to the deal. Still, Bowery Auctions is in the throes of one of its periodic economic slumps, and they can’t afford to be too choosy about the transactions that they take on. Then the contact who had tipped Rilke off about the house clearance is found dead in a Glasgow alleyway, and is presumed to have succumbed to the combination of injudicious drug abuse and cold weather. Soon another of Rilke’s vague associates dies in very similar circumstances. Both of the deceased had pursued outré lifestyles, but Rilke feels it is more than a bleak coincidence.

Louise Welsh develops a compelling plot, which takes in aspects of organised crime in Glasgow, with different gangs vying over proprietorial rights. Meanwhile, as Rilke and his staff continue the preparations for the house sale, they find a terrified Vietnamese man who seems to have escaped from some form of incarceration. In addition to the drug-related gang conflicts, it turns out that there is a modern slavery ring.

As always, Welsh manages the various strands of the plot very adroitly. Readers familiar with Rilke from Welsh’s debut novel, The Cutting Room, will recognise the seedy underworld through which much of the action of the novel is conducted. Her cast of characters is well drawn, especially Rilke who though now well into middle age, is still prepared to live dangerously. I found it fascinating to come back to such a vivid character twenty years on from his memorable first appearance, and hope that there may be further updates in store. ( )

In this long-awaited sequel to Louise Welsh's debut novel, Rilke is still working the same job at a Glasgow auction house, he's still picking up men, but using Grindr instead of wandering through parks late at night, but he's a little older and showing his age. When the auction house is offered the job of clearing a large house in the country, they jump on the chance and are even willing to ignore a few things that might give a more reputable firm pause. But as the indications that something is wrong pile up, Rilke goes digging, even as he also gets involved in settling the affairs of one of their long-time customers.

If you liked [The Cutting Room], you'll like the sequel, which generally follows the same path. It was a little unclear as to when this book takes place; the world has moved on a few decades, but the characters are only a handful of years older. But that's a minor quibble, when it's such a treat to just spend more time with Rilke and Welsh's gritty, hardscrabble version of Glasgow. This is a fantastic noir, filled with bad men, innocents led astray, dark dealings, human trafficking and, best of all, Les is still out there, living his fabulous life. ( )

The Second Cut by Louise Welsh is the sequel to The Cutting Room but can be read as a standalone, which is how I read it. It is dark and explicit in details yet still manages to show the humanity of the characters and even a bit of humor.

Though I usually try to avoid reading sequels or later books in a series if I haven't read what came before, made an exception here because of the time between books. I'm glad I did, this was a book well worth reading and made me decide to go back and read The Cutting Room.

I do think readers should be aware before reading that details, whether of a sexual and/or violent nature, are not glossed over or done "off screen." If less than appealing descriptions can ruin a book for you, you might want to reconsider this one. That said, I never really got the feeling anything was gratuitous. Each instance might not have advanced the plot (though many did) they did give nuance and background to the characters and the culture they live in.

While this is probably an even more interesting read for those who know Glasgow, for someone without any real knowledge of the place it is still very interesting. I mention this because, in some ways, Glasgow, or at least some elements of its culture, is like another character in the novel. The grit mentioned in the previous paragraph offers as much information about the "character" of Glasgow as it does about the human characters.

Recommended for readers of suspense mysteries as well as dark mysteries. With the one caveat about the grittiness of the descriptions, I think this will appeal to anyone who enjoys character driven stories.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )

I am not much of a LGBTQ fan. But I have heard about the author, Louise Welsh a lot, so decided to read The Second Cut. But, I felt that that the story was not going in the direction which I wanted. It was, rather a difficult read for me because of too much local slangs. For me the book was not thrilling enough. Still, I would not say that the book is bad, it is just I was not made for the book. It needs readers who fully understand LGBTQ topics. Sometimes, while reading I felt that the book has enhanced too much on relations between characters rather than thrill.

I would like to give the book 3 stars. Thanks to Netgalley and Canongate Books for providing me an opportunity to read and review the book. ( )