''Crime'' is a 2008 novel by Scottish writer

Irvine Welsh Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist, playwright and short story writer. His 1993 novel '' Trainspotting'' was made into a film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, and directed several short fil ...

. It is the sequel to his earlier novel, ''

Filth Filth or The Filth may refer to: Common uses * Dirt, unclean matter * Police officer, a pejorative in British slang Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Filth'' (film), a 2013 film based on the novel * ''Filth'', an alternative title for ''S ...

''.

Plot summary

Ray Lennox is a

Detective Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

with the

Lothian and Borders Police Lothian and Borders Police was the territorial police force for the Scottish council areas of the City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, Scottish Borders and West Lothian between 1975 and 2013. The force's headquarters were in Fettes ...

who attempts to recover from a mental breakdown induced by stress, cocaine and alcohol abuse and a child murder case in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

in which he was the lead investigating officer by taking a holiday in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

with his fiancée, Trudi. The pair meet up with Eddie 'Ginger' Rodgers, one of Lennox's retired former colleagues, and his wife Delores, and they all drink into the early hours of the morning. The next morning Lennox finds himself craving more alcohol and goes to a bar with Trudi where they have an argument which causes Trudi to angrily leave the bar. Lennox continues drinking heavily. Soon afterwards he meets two women, Starry and Robyn, in a different bar and they all go back Robyn's apartment where they drink more alcohol and take cocaine. They are soon joined by two men, Lance Dearing and Johnnie, and a fight breaks out a short time later when Lennox sees Johnnie is sexually assaulting Tianna, Robyn's ten-year-old daughter. Lennox incapacitates Johnnie and struggles with Dearing, who ultimately leaves the apartment with everyone except Lennox and Tianna, who have locked themselves in a bathroom. The next morning, Lennox wakes in the bathroom and receives a telephone call from Robyn, who urges him to take Tianna to a man called Chet Lewis in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

before the call is interrupted by Dearing, who tries unsuccessfully to pacify Lennox. Lennox instead leaves the apartment with Tianna and travels to a local police station where he is shocked to find Dearing is in police uniform and is working at the reception desk. Lennox flees with Tianna and hires a car to take her to Chet as Robyn instructed. Lennox takes her across the state to an exclusive marina where he walks right into a hornets' nest of

paedophile Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty a ...

s, just like the one that had haunted him on a similar case in Edinburgh.

Reviews

TV adaptation

On 23 July 2020,

BritBox BritBox is an online digital video subscription service, founded by BBC Studios and ITV plc, operating in nine countries across North America, Europe, Australia and South Africa.

announced that

would be adapting Crime as a six-part miniseries for streaming service. The 6-episode series co-written by Welsh and

Dean Cavanagh Dean Cavanagh is a screenwriter, novelist and Playwright born in Bradford, West Yorkshire. In 1990, at the height of the acid house scene, he founded the club culture magazine ''Herb Garden'' and a band with Enzo Annecchini. His electronic m ...

and starring

Dougray Scott Stephen Dougray Scott (born 25 November 1965) is a Scottish actor. He has appeared in the films ''Ever After'' (1998), '' Mission: Impossible 2'' (2000), ''Enigma'' (2001), ''Hitman'' (2007), and ''My Week with Marilyn'' (2011). Early life Sc ...

as Ray Lennox premiered on BritBox on 18 November 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crime (Novel) 2008 British novels Crime novels Jonathan Cape books Novels by Irvine Welsh Novels set in Florida Sequel novels