KISS HER GOODBYE
Allan Guthrie
March 2005
ISBN: 978-0857683205
Cover art by Chuck Pyle

Read A Sample Chapter

Order Now

NOMINATED FOR THE EDGAR ALLAN POE AWARD
AND THE ANTHONY AWARD
FOR BEST PAPERBACK NOVEL OF THE YEAR!

NOMINATED FOR THE GUMSHOE AWARD
FOR BEST EUROPEAN CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR!

When people in Edinburgh want to borrow money, they go to Cooper. When they don’t pay it back, they get a visit from Joe Hope. But now Joe’s got problems of his own. His teenage daughter is found dead, an apparent suicide. Then the police arrest him for murder. But for once in his life, Joe’s innocent—and with help from Scotland’s hardest men (and one of Scotland’s hardest women), he sets out to find the person who framed him and deliver his own brutal brand of justice.

  • First publication anywhere
  • Author's first novel was shortlisted for the Debut Dagger Award by the Crime Writers Association
  • San Francisco Chronicle on KISS HER GOODBYE: "A tough and fresh take on the classic hard-boiled tale...vivid, smart and stylish."
  • Crime Scene on KISS HER GOODBYE: "Stupendous...KISS HER GOODBYE delivers beautifully...pure hardboiled heaven."
  • The Times of London on KISS HER GOODBYE: "Guthrie writes with an urgency, energy, cynical realism and mastery of casual violence that is rarely encountered in British crime writing."
  • Publishers Weekly on KISS HER GOODBYE: "Scottish author Guthrie’s second novel...lives up to Hard Case’s reputation for gritty noir thrillers that pull no punches."
  • Giant Magazine on KISS HER GOODBYE: "A page-turning countdown to [a] violent explosion...a throwback to pulp fiction's heyday."
  • Adventure Fiction Magazine on KISS HER GOODBYE: "Pure noir...If you like your action swift, your violence fast, your women tough, your men hard, you will love Kiss Her Goodbye."
  • The Scotsman on KISS HER GOODBYE: "Allan Guthrie’s Kiss Her Goodbye takes the genre to its pared-back, squealing limit. The writing is tight, the story as poised and precisely plotted as the finest of Ed McBain’s procedural gems...Guthrie’s control of this dark material is sheer wizardry...His book is a masterclass, combining technical skill with the instant chill of brutality."

Raves for the work of Allan Guthrie...

"Memorable and stunning and pitch perfect. I can’t rememeber a first novel this good in a long, long time."
Ed Gorman, author of EVERYBODY’S SOMEBODY’S FOOL

"One of the five best crime novels I’ve ever read. I loved it from the first page."
Ken Bruen, author of THE GUARDS

"A hard-edged, fast paced noir thriller with outstanding dialogue...Scottish crime fiction with a unique American hard-boiled twist."
Jason Starr, author of TWISTED CITY

"A stunning debut...razor-sharp characterisation and an evocative sense of place...Dark and splendid."
Maxim Jakubowski, The Guardian

"KISS HER GOODBYE is very well done. Allan Guthrie has a bright—or should I say dark?—future in crime fiction."
Bill Pronzini, author of BLUE LONESOME