Irvine Welsh

crime

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more

source_10558

By signing up, I confirm that I'm over 16. To find out what personal data we collect and how we use it, please visit our <a href="/company/about-us/notices/privacy-policy/">Privacy Policy</a>

Keep an eye out for a confirmation in your inbox

Stories, ideas and giveaways to help you spark young imaginations

source_10972

The latest books, activities and tips to help you grow little readers

source_10975

About us

About Us (Header 4)

john-le-carre-a-legacy-of-spies-960-2.jpg

Margaret Atwood

Richard Osman

Malorie Blackman

George Orwell

marian_keyes_mobile_320x200px.png

Elif Shafak

shonfaye

Authors (Header 3)

Books (Header 2)

Company

Features (Header 1)

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

Resolution

A special edition of the cult classic

Trainspotting

The Long Knives

Everyman's Pocket Classics complements highly successful Pocket Poets series, offering the best prose writing in a handy pocket-sized format. Like all Everyman Library books, each title is printed on a cream-wove, acid-free paper with full cloth sewn binding, headbands and silk ribbon marker. Eminently collectable and great gifts.

Scottish Stories

Dead Men's Trousers

Vintage Minis

Rave

21st Anniversary Edition

Mr Nice

The Blade Artist

T2 Trainspotting

The Picture of Dorian Gray

A Decent Ride

The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins

Filth

Skagboys

Porno

A Fault on the Line / Elspeth’s Boyfriend / Kissing and Making Up (Storycuts)

Catholic Guilt (You Know You Love It) (Storycuts)

I Am Miami (Storycuts)

The Rosewell Incident (Storycuts)

The State of the Party (Storycuts)

Crime

It's here! Browse the 2024 Penguin Christmas gift guide

A triumph... A great, redemptive book... It leaves you wanting more, much more

Powerful, passionate writing... Welsh gets it just right

Crime is by some distance Welsh's most restrained and thoughtful work

You never know what you're going to get with Irvine Welsh, other than guaranteed intelligence. But what you get here is a triumph. A brave take on paedophile rings and the minds, fast and slow, behind them... There are echoes of rebus, of Christopher Brookmyre, even of Carl Hiaasen... There's only one Welsh and you should be reading him again

An anti-Lolita; a cleverly updated view of those who protect children and those who prey on them. It also works as a slick, fast-paced thriller with a surprisingly coherent and engaging hero

There's a stark immediacy to his prose...frenetically paced thriller

Running jokes and consciously ludicrous moments come thick and fast

The taut dialogue buzzes with snappy ventriloquism. Welsh is one of our most interesting writers on the minutiae of human consciousness

Essentially a stunning exploration of the darkest parts of the human psyche, one which will haunt the reader

There is no doubt that Crime is a page-turner

The explosive first novel in Irvine Welsh's Crime series

Some things are easier to forget than others... 
 
Detective Inspector Ray Lennox has fled to Miami to escape the aftermath of a mental breakdown induced by occupational stress and cocaine abuse, and a harrowing child-sex murder case back in Edinburgh. But his fiancée Trudi is only interested in planning their wedding, leaving Lennox cast adrift, alone in Florida. 
 
A coke-fuelled binge brings him into contact with another victim of sexual predation, ten-year-old Tianna, and Lennox flees across the state with his terrified charge, determined to protect her at any cost. 
 
Can Lennox trust his own instincts? 
And can he handle Tianna, while still trying to get to grips with the Edinburgh murder? 
 
'A triumph' Observer 
'Welsh is one of our most interesting writers' Sunday Telegraph 
'A disturbing but vital read' Harper's Bazaar 
 
*DISCOVER THE SECOND NOVEL IN IRVINE WELSH'S CRIME SERIES, THE LONG KNIVES, NOW*

'You never know what you're going to get with Irvine Welsh, other than guaranteed intelligence. But what you get here is a triumph. A brave take on paedophile rings and the minds, fast and slow, behind them... There are echoes of rebus, of Christopher Brookmyre, even of Carl Hiaasen... There's only one Welsh and you should be reading him again' Observer 
 
<IMG id=copyApproveIcon70959273 onmouseover="makeHoverElement('hoverBox','This Copy Text is already Approved for feeds 
Click if you want to change this and remove the content from feeds', '450', event );; " onmouseout="removeDiv('hoverBox');; " onclick="removeDiv('hoverBox');; toggleCopyApprovalClick('70959273');" border=0 src="http://rhbiblio.uk.randomhouse.com/images/check16x16.png" width=16 height=16>60 
 
 
 
 
 
You never know what you're going to get with Irvine Welsh, other than guaranteed intelligence. But what you get here is a triumph. A brave take on paedophile rings and the minds, fast and slow, behind them... There are echoes of rebus, of Christopher Brookmyre, even of Carl Hiaasen... There's only one Welsh and you should be reading him again 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Reviews 
 
 
<IMG id=copyApproveIcon70959273 onmouseover="makeHoverElement('hoverBox','This Copy Text is already Approved for feeds 
Click if you want to change this and remove the content from feeds', '450', event );; " onmouseout="removeDiv('hoverBox');; " onclick="removeDiv('hoverBox');; toggleCopyApprovalClick('70959273');" border=0 src="http://rhbiblio.uk.randomhouse.com/images/check16x16.png" width=16 height=16>60 
 
 
 
 
 
You never know what you're going to get with Irvine Welsh, other than guaranteed intelligence. But what you get here is a triumph. A brave take on paedophile rings and the minds, fast and slow, behind them... There are echoes of rebus, of Christopher Brookmyre, even of Carl Hiaasen... There's only one Welsh and you should be reading him again

Irvine Welsh was born and raised in Edinburgh. His first novel, Trainspotting, has sold over one million copies in the UK and was adapted into an era-defining film. He has written thirteen further novels, including the number one bestseller Dead Men’s Trousers, four books of shorter fiction and numerous plays and screenplays. Crime and The Long Knives have been adapted into a television series starring Dougray Scott as Ray Lennox. Irvine Welsh currently lives between London, Edinburgh and Miami.

Detective Inspector Ray Lennox has fled to Miami to escape the aftermath of a mental breakdown induced by occupational stress and cocaine abuse, and a harrowing child-sex murder case back in Edinburgh. But his fiancée Trudi is only interested in planning their wedding, and soon Lennox cast adrift, alone in Florida. A coke-fuelled binge brings him into contact with another victim of sexual predation, ten-year-old Tianna, and Lennox flees across the state with his terrified charge, determined to protect her at any cost. But can Lennox trust his own instincts? And can he handle Tianna, while still trying to get to grips with the Edinburgh murder?

Crime

Select a format:

Retailers:

Summary

Reviews

About the author

Irvine Welsh

More in this series

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter