The Second Cut

Sex, Drugs, and Antiquing? Fast paced easy read where the characters fall into a rabbit hole of strange and possibly illegal events. An antique dealer is tasked with inventorying an elderly lady’s house, and things take a sideways turn when someone can't resist poking their nose where it doesn't belong.

3.5 stars

The Second Cut by Louise Welsh is the second in the Auctioneer Rilke series.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Canongate Books and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


Series Background:    (Warning – May contain spoilers from previous books)
Rilke has been at Bowery Auctions in Glasgow for over 25 years. His boss is Rose Bowery.  Rilke is a middle-aged gay man who drinks, smokes and seems to be a fan of casual sex.  His nicknames of Cadaver and  Corpse as well as others, are all in reference to his tall, gaunt features.


My Synopsis:   (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Rilke runs into his old friend Jojo at a wedding.  Jojo is a little inebriated, but he gives Rilke a "hot tip" about a mansion that needs clearing and auctioning.  A little while later, Jojo will be found dead in an alley.

The lead turns out to be both a good and bad opportunity.   Bowery Auctions really needs the money, as COVID and Lock-down has not helped an already slow business.  But there seems to be a question as to what happened to the lady who actually owns the house, and neither Rose nor Rilke trust the cousins who are trying to sell it.

Meanwhile, Rilke starts wondering about his old friend's death.  Upon further investigation, Rilke finds himself locking horns with a psychopathic drug dealer, who is all about power.


My Opinions:
Although this is the sequel to the best-selling novel The Cutting Room,  this could easily be read as a stand-alone novel.  It has actually been 20 years since the first one was written, but it isn't actually 20 years later in this book  (Rilke would be in his mid 60's, and it doesn't read like it).

The author's passion for the gay life-style shines through.  Although the LGBQT+ scene has definitely grown, and things have improved in the community since the first book, there are still problems, and the author does not shy away from anything.

I am beginning to like Rilke.  I guess he's growing on me.  He may stick his nose into other people's business, but his intentions are usually admirable.  His drinking and non-stop sexual encounters were toned down in this one.  Maybe he's growing up.  He is still not your normal protagonist, and maybe that is why I like him.

As well, I'm starting to like Les, Rose and Anderson.

Again, the plot was interesting, and I have learned more than I need to know about some of the seedier sides of the drug and human trafficking trade, not to mention the struggles of the LGBQT+ community.

Overall, although the topics were a little dark, the mystery was good....and I was happy to find out what happened to the old lady.

Here's hoping your next books if 5 stars!

Rilke who is from the LGBQT community who is into Auctions. One day he met his old friend, Jojo, who suggested to him to check a mansion, a possible sell, which may interest him, since they need some recovery money because of the Covid lockdown.

However, things went into something he didn't expect. Finding his friend Jojo dead in a street alley. Rilke now caught into the middle of investigation and little did he know that he might be facing more than a drug dealer but also someone who might be responsible for the disappearance of his friend.

Though this is a sequel to The Cutting Room and have no background from the first book, Im starting to have interest in Rilke's character and his role development in this book. Will be checking out the first book.

Thank you @Netgally & @canongatebooks for the ARC.

3.6/5 Stars

A brilliant excursion into the darkest, grittiest corners of Glasgow, as we meet what has to be one of the most spell-binding protagonists ever crafted - Rilke, a forty-seven year old head-auctioneer - a man, “too tall, too thin, too cadaverous to look like anything other than a vampire on the make”.

Perhaps more “anti-hero” than our typical main protagonist, Rilke is a triumphant nod to the unexpected beauty, grace and strength in the just plain “regular” - the down-trodden, discarded, and unremarkable dissociated man, getting though life with his own quiet form of dignity.

(The second book in a series initiated by the author some twenty years ago, I have not yet read the earlier work, a situation I would love to quickly remedy).

The main voice of our story, Rilke, our first person POV narrator, provides a heartbreaking glimpse into his own “hollow” soul - as a middle-aged gay man who has “embraced his inner freak a long time ago”, he is now committed to meaningless Grindr hookups, “never quite able to disentangle sex and danger”, convinced at the core his particular lot-in-life is fixed.

“A long-limbed spider in a three piece suit”, Rilke is something of a smart-aleck; intelligent, judgmental, and sardonic, (not to mention sidesplittingly funny in his wry and off-the-cuff observations), wearing his emotional detachment, a closely-guarded mask, always front-and-center - allowing the reader only the briefest of glimpses into what we can clearly see to be his essential goodness, his achingly-self-deprecating isolation, and his heavily-disguised and deeply-held compassion.

Along with the acquisition of his current clients, proprietors of a creepy and neglected Georgian mansion, deep in rural Scotland, (the kind of place you would swear can only “draw bad things to it” ) and now the setting for a house-clearing auction, Rilke’s world explodes with a series of frantically-paced events, beginning with an unexplained death, and rapidly expanding to include several of Glasgow’s most dangerous and desperate.

As the sense of menace builds to a claustrophobic pitch, Rilke’s furtive brush (unwilling but unavoidable) against the grimly-subversive underground world of sex parties, illicit drugs, and debauchery has the sordid and wretched feel of descent into irreversible madness.

As Rilke struggles to get to Truth, and ultimately Justice, this intricately-woven tale expands to consider friendship (in all its forms), morality, and perverse resilience, as Rilke confronts the inherent and unresolvable contradictions in doing right, against all odds, when face-to-face with mortal danger.

Without giving the plot away (no spoilers here), the author cuts through it all - skillfully pulling off a satisfying and very acceptable ending, along with the dropping of a final tiny-but-enticing teaser, which may or may not hint (marvelously) at more to come in this superb saga.

A great big thank you to NetGalley and the author for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.