Two-Way Split: Winner of the Theakston's Crime Novel of the Year

Winner of the Theakston’s Crime Novel of the Year and shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger, TWO-WAY SPLIT announced the arrival of a major new voice in crime fiction.

One bad decision. No way out.

Robin Greaves is having a very bad day. When compromising photographs surface, revenge is on his mind, but the robbery meant to fix everything goes catastrophically wrong.

Now he’s on the run. The police are closing in. Two private detectives are circling for their own grubby reasons. And somewhere in the chaos, a ruthless killer has decided Robin needs to die.

For most people, that would be enough. For Robin, it’s worse – he hasn’t been taking his medication. Reality is slippery. Paranoia is rising. And every choice he makes drags him deeper into trouble.

TWO-WAY SPLIT is a lean, ferocious crime thriller, stripped to the bone and powered by hard violence, black humour and a dangerously unstable central character. It never lets its protagonist off the hook and it never lets the reader catch their breath.

Praise for Two-Way Split:

"With razor-sharp characterisation and an evocative sense of place, the novel's pace never relents: the supremely damaged characters that Guthrie conjures up are seldom let off the hook, and stew throughout in their fetid juices. Dark and splendid." — The Guardian

"Seek him out and buy his book." — Ian Rankin

"Excellent." — George Pelecanos

"In the tradition of Irvine Welsh and Ian Rankin, Allan Guthrie chronicles life in the underbelly of Edinburgh with dazzling grace. TWO-WAY SPLIT is a hard-edged, fast-paced noir thriller with outstanding dialogue and plenty of unforgettable bad guys. It's Scottish crime fiction with a unique American hard-boiled twist." — Jason Starr

"Scottish crime noir at its best" — Sunday Independent

"the tension ratchets up with each snatch of mayhem" — Sunday Herald

"...a memorable and stunning and pitch-perfect debut and one you should grab forthwith. I can't remember a first novel this good in a long, long time." — Mystery Scene

"Allan Guthrie is a master at giving readers heroes who are anti-heroes, people who they can easily identify with and care about. In Guthrie’s world, unconventional becomes conventional, sanity is found in madness, love springs from the dark. Critics are fond of calling books like Guthrie’s neon noir or hard-boiled fiction. Call it anything you want, but read ‘Two-Way Split.’ It is damn good fiction." — The New Review