The Papers of Tony Veitch is a crime novel by William McIlvanney. This book is the second in the series featuring the character Laidlaw.[1] This series of books is recognised as the foundation of the Tartan Noir genre.[2]
Plot
Jack Laidlaw visits the deathbed of an alcoholic vagrant, Eck Adamson, who provides a cryptic last message which helps solve the murder of a gangland thug and the disappearance of a student. In the process, Laidlaw uncovers widespread corruption.
Eck Adamson appears in the last Laidlaw novel about Laidlaw’s early career: The Dark Remains. He is an informer for Jack Laidlaw, who says "I know the streets, but Eck here has a doctorate and any number of diplomas." He is described as "anything between thirty and sixty and probably had no more than a decade left in him without a radical change of lifestyle," as he knocks back two large rums with a pint of Guinness in between.
