The Good Father
03 July 2025Imprint: Zaffre
Synopsis
'Heart-stopping and heart-rending, this is Liam McIlvanney's best novel yet' VAL MCDERMID
WHEN A CHILD DISAPPEARS, NO SECRET IS SAFE . . .
THE POIGNANT AND BRILLIANTLY CLEVER NEW THRILLER FROM AWARD-WINNING CRIME AUTHOR, LIAM McILVANNEY.
Gordon and Sarah Rutherford are normal, happy people with rich, fulfilling lives. They have a son they adore, a house on the beach and a safe, friendly community in a picture-postcard town.
Until, one day, Bonnie the labrador comes in from the beach alone. Their son, Rory, has gone - the only trace left behind is a single black sandal.
Their lives don't fall apart immediately. While there's still hope, they dig deep and try to carry on.
But as desperation mounts, arms around shoulders become fingers pointed - at friends, family, strangers, each other. Without any answers, only questions remain. Who can they trust? How far will they go to find out what happened to Rory?
And the deadliest question of all: what could be worse than your child disappearing?
When the truth begins to emerge, they find themselves in a world they could barely have imagined.
'Beautifully written, this is easily one of the finest crime novels I've read in a very long time' C.M. EWAN
WHEN A CHILD DISAPPEARS, NO SECRET IS SAFE . . .
THE POIGNANT AND BRILLIANTLY CLEVER NEW THRILLER FROM AWARD-WINNING CRIME AUTHOR, LIAM McILVANNEY.
Gordon and Sarah Rutherford are normal, happy people with rich, fulfilling lives. They have a son they adore, a house on the beach and a safe, friendly community in a picture-postcard town.
Until, one day, Bonnie the labrador comes in from the beach alone. Their son, Rory, has gone - the only trace left behind is a single black sandal.
Their lives don't fall apart immediately. While there's still hope, they dig deep and try to carry on.
But as desperation mounts, arms around shoulders become fingers pointed - at friends, family, strangers, each other. Without any answers, only questions remain. Who can they trust? How far will they go to find out what happened to Rory?
And the deadliest question of all: what could be worse than your child disappearing?
When the truth begins to emerge, they find themselves in a world they could barely have imagined.
'Beautifully written, this is easily one of the finest crime novels I've read in a very long time' C.M. EWAN
Details
03 July 2025416 pages
9781804186978Imprint: Zaffre
Reviews
Heart-stopping and heart-rending, this is Liam McIlvanney's best novel yetVAL McDERMID
A masterful crime novel. It's a page-turning, heartbreaking story about fatherhood with echoes of Patricia Highsmith's Ripley and that nail-biting, can't-look-away inevitability of a plot which still, somehow, manages to surprise. Beautifully written, this is easily one of the finest crime novels I've read in a very long time.C.M. EWAN
The Good Father is a consummate and nerve-shredding psychological thriller, beautifully written and with huge heartDOUG JOHNSTONE
A haunting, harrowing and utterly absorbing study of how far a father will go to protect a family indelibly stained by darkness. A masterpiece that will stay with you long after the last pageNEIL BROADFOOT