Tartan Noir: Difference between revisions

Scottish crime fiction genre

Tartan Noir is a form of crime fiction particular to Scotland and Scottish writers. William McIlvanney, who wrote three crime novels, the first being Laidlaw in 1977,^[1] is considered the father of the genre.^[2]

William McIlvanney (whose own work has been considered a precursor to Tartan Noir)^[3] has said that the whole genre is “ersatz“.^[4] Charles Taylor has stated that the term has an “inescapably condescending tinge”, noting “it’s a touristy phrase, suggesting that there’s something quaint about hard-boiled crime fiction that comes from the land of kilts and haggis“.^[5]