The Long Drop by Denise Mina.
Glasgow, 1957. It is a December night and William Watt is desperate. His family has been murdered and he needs to find out who killed them. He arrives at a bar to meet Peter Manuel, who claims he can get hold of the gun that was used. But Watt soon realises that this infamous criminal will not give up information easily. Inspired by true events, The Long Drop follows Watt and Manuel along back streets and into smoky pubs, and on to the courtroom where the murder trial takes place. Can Manuel really be trusted to tell the truth? And how far will Watt go to get what he wants?
A good read. I did find this slow going though. I loved the cover. That's what drew me to this book. But the story wasn't for me. 3*.

Denise Mina paints a picture of Glasgow few will remember and it provides the context in which the story of Peter Manuel and William Watt plays out. Grim sums it up. From the appalling murders, the sense of lawlessness and the power of the gangs and gangsters through to social deprivation and inequality. I found the all night drinking binge of Watt and Manuel to be almost superhuman in the amount of alcohol consumed. For sure it was a lengthy part of the story and maybe the constant imbibing was the prop which helped keep the story going. An interesting subject matter for a novel but I found it rather protracted.

This is utterly compelling reading. The Long Drop takes the real events which surround the Peter Manuel case and Denise Mina weaves her story around it to recount a dark period from Glasgow’s past.

In the late 1950’s Glasgow was a dark and dangerous place, Denise Mina depicts the life of the city, the atmosphere and its citizens astonishingly well – you feel yourself drawn into the book and the world around you fades away as masterly storytelling builds a new environment around you.

Peter Manuel is known as one of the most notorious serial killers. He hanged for his crimes but it seems there was always the belief he committed more murders than he faced trial for. In this book we see Manuel up close, the story addresses what he may have been like to those around him and the lengths he would go to to convince the world of his innocence. We also get focus on William Watt, his family have been murdered and he will do anything to find who was responsible.

It is a story of an obsession for the truth. The writing is so tight, not a word seems wasted as this short but powerful story drills down into the men at the heart of a dark, dark incident. Not a crime thriller which you would read for “fun” and the subject matter dictates this is a disturbing tale too. But it is a fascinating read and one I couldn’t stop reading once I had started it.

The Long Drop' is set in Glasgow in the late 1950s. It is based on the true story of Peter Manuel, a burgler, rapist and murderer, who was one of the last people to be hanged in Scotland. It is difficult to know how much ‘fiction’ has been added to the true events but by all accounts, Manuel was a truly nasty man and the author is clearly adept at writing in this genre!
The investigation of the murders is not so central to the bookas the relationship of Manuel and William Watt, whose family were killed by Manuel. The characters are well developed and it is a gripping read. The author manages to recreate dark and gritty Glasgow life of that period in a really immersive way.
This is my first Denise Mina book but I will look forward to discovering more of her work.

This is based on a true story. It’s around a year before I was born 1957.
The serial killer Peter Manuel.

Halfway through I thought I’d google about this to give myself a bit of clarity compared to the real event. It helped me a lot to get some questions answered in my head.

I have to say, I’ve never heard of this before.

It was an interesting account and disturbing.

Fact meets fiction. Wonderful imagined conversations from real life adversaries.
Denise Mina is a genius

The story of one of Scotland's serial killers is told through a fictional interpretation of a real life event.
Peter Manuel was a thoroughly despicable individual, his recidivistic criminal life culminated in a two year murder spree, during which he killed at least seven people.
The Long Drop deals with grim events, set in what was in many ways a grim and gritty time. Based on true facts, events that took place, and the people that were part of them. Mina explores the human side of the story, the dark, bleak mind of a ruthless man, as well as the poignant emotions of the murdered people's relatives. Mina shows how, to Manuel, people were no more than worthless, flat, decorations in the story of his life.
While not a book for everyone, the Long Drop is an excellent read for lovers of true crime.

This fictionalized account of Scotland’s notorious serial killer Peter Manuel is a gloomy and gritty portrayal of Glasgow in the 1950’s. The psychological aspects are just as compelling, as are the court transcripts. The author did a very good job of capturing Manuel’s sociopathic and hardened psyche, which will give you an up close and personal look inside the mind a ruthless killer.

Unfortunately I struggled to get to grips with the style of writing. The plot seemed rather disjointed at points and difficult to follow.

Not very interesting - I had a preview of this and had little desire to read the rest of the book. Sorry.

The Long Drop by Denise Mina: This crime fiction set in the 1950s in Glasgow creates a chilling history for the serial killer Peter Manuel. Moriarty provides a look at the seedy underbelly with the crime-ridden Scottish streets during the times. Illuminating read.

I love true crime there is nothing like trying to work out the mind of a killer this story is based on true events and capital punishment. The story is from start to finish on the judicial hanging of Peter Manuel. It is a story I read at one setting the author held me in her hands having to know the ending. Ms. Mina has great insights into human nature and her dialogue and prose remain tense and true to the ear. I really liked how she showed me every side of the story really making me feel I was there.

Quite a difficult read as I remember the Peter Manuel cases when I was growing up in Lanarkshire in the 1950s. This is a fictional account based on real events and is a fascinating point of view.

There have always been some questions as to Watt's involvement with Peter Manuel and his alibi - this book raises further questions.

You'll have seen Denise Mina pop up on plenty 'books of the year' lists from bloggers to broadsheets and it deserves every one of them.

Based on true events, The Long Drop unfurls the many questions behind why William Watt went drinking with the rapist Peter Manual, the man thought to have murdered his wife, her sister and their daughter.

Atmospheric and tense The Long Drop is everything you could ask for in a crime novel. Mina's vivid characters and wonderful descriptions of Glasgow make this book unmissable reading.

Two and a half star rating.
Bleak and chilling, based on a real individual, Peter Manuel, dubbed Scotland’s first serial killer. Not a nice man at all and most of the other people in this book weren’t particularly pleasant either. The start of this story is like being thrust into a conversation which began long before you arrived - confusing, trying to make sense of it all, so it helps to already be familiar with this appalling man before starting. I found this a bit hard going and struggled to get through it. Good descriptions of 1950’s Glasgow which gave a realistic feel of those days.

review already posted ...........................................................................................................................................................

I’ve read a couple of books in succession which have made me feel inadequate as a reader and The Long Drop is one of them. Last month it won ‘The McIlvanney Prize’ which is Bloody Scotland’s annual prize awarded to the best Scottish Crime book of the year. It beat shortlisted books which included Murderabilia, The Quiet Death of Thomas Quaid and Out of Bounds and I just can’t understand why this was the book to come out on top. So am I missing something?

I hadn’t realised when I started reading that the book was based on real events – the case of Peter Manuel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Manuel (don’t read the article before reading the book) who was a notorious serial killer in the 1950s. The story is a fictionalised version of the case and tells in parallel both the events of the night of 2 December 1957 when Manuel went on a pub crawl with William Watt, alongside the story of Manuel’s trial for multiple murders. I was intrigued by the story but had I known anything in advance about the true crime aspect it might have taken away some of the mystery. It is, however, a very evocative story which really brought alive the dark side of Glasgow in the 1950s.

What I found quite odd, and jarring, was that even given the constraints of the two parts of the story the author went both backwards and, more puzzlingly, forwards in time. For example, referencing the future implementation of the Clean Air Act or how developments will prompt the eventual action of specific characters – all outside the timeframe of the story. This seemed like an odd approach but perhaps it’s this unusual style that made the book stand out for others.

During the trial there are intricate portraits of the cast of (mostly) disreputable characters that are called to appear but some of the courtroom details – the ins and outs of the origins of two guns – felt unnecessary and slowed the pace. I was also interested in the suggestion that Manuel couldn’t read people in the same way as most of us and he certainly exhibited some bizarre behaviour, perhaps a suggestion of mental health issues at the root of his actions?

This wasn’t a book I enjoyed but as it is an award winner I feel that the shortcomings must be on my side. Thank you to the publisher for the review copy.

I really wanted to love this book, truly I did, but for some reason, and I'm still not entirely sure why it just didn't do it for me personally.

Based on a real life crime, Peter Manuel is a career criminal, famous liar, rapist and all round thoroughly dangerous and dislikeable individual. Infact Manuel is so dislikeable that I may have just realised why I didn't get on too well with this book!

William Watt, is a social climber accused of murdering his family. He knows he didn't do it, and is pretty sure that he knows who did, his mission now is to get them locked up, for good.

One December night, Watt meets with Manuel to find out what, if anything he knows about his families demise. The truth is even more shocking than Watt ever could have imagined.

Manuel for his part, sees Watt as someone easily influencable and easy to play games with, the two of them make a particularly miserable pair...

If you're not familiar with this crime then I would give this novel a go. I think my mistake is having watched a television programme about Manuel recently and enjoying it more (quite rare for me!)

The long drop of the title, is a particular type of hanging, the type used at the time of Manuel's 1958 trial, where he stands for the murder of 7 people but is suspected of killing more. Without giving anything anyway, I think it's a fitting title.

Love this author and was thrilled to read this. Fans will love it.

This didn't quite have the gripping brilliance of some of Mina's previous fiction, but it is still a very good book which I can recommend.