Remarkably original debut thriller shines light on Glasgow's underworld

THE NECESSARY DEATH OF LEWIS WINTER, by Malcolm Mackay. Mantle, 2013, 256 pp., ￡14.99 (hardcover)

'It's easy to kill a man," you're told by your omniscient narrator (more on the second person later). "It's hard to kill a man well. People who do it well know this. People who do it badly find out the hard way. The hard way has consequences. Even the talented must be wary of that fact."

Malcolm Mackay's "The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter" — the first in a trilogy — is an intriguingly odd, remarkably original debut. It's the story of a murder, but it stands out in a crowded market by being virtually back to front. There's no quest for an unknown murderer, no race to avert a death — in fact, the detective character isn't even introduced until some way into the novel.