An old photograph of an ambitious man hints at an unsavoury history.

"McIlvanney has flair and assurance and executes a powerful tale with all the dextrous sensitivity and ballsy swagger the subject is due."

"All the colours of the town is dark fiction, plumbing the abysmal depths of human behaviour in a scorching crime-mystery tale."

"Distinctive and striking… One quality that makes the novel stand out is McIlvanney’s portrait of the deep-rooted tribal tensions in Glasgow and Belfast."

"McIlvanney manipulates his hero into a series of tight spots with a deftness that bodes well for the future."