An Irvine Welsh novel published in 2008, following the misadventures of Ray Lennox, a character previously seen in Filth.
Eight years after the death of his mentor Bruce Robertson and a promotion to Detective Inspector, Ray Lennox is on leave in Miami, Florida, following a harrowing case which he had become perhaps too invested in. Accompanied by his fiancee Trudi, the vacation intended for relaxation and wedding planning is anything but for the "polisman", whose anxiety and depression drive him toward excessive alcohol consumption and a relapse in his cocaine habit. Quickly growing estranged from his soon-to-be wife and throwing himself into the vices of the nightlife, he crosses paths with Hard-Drinking Party Girl Robyn and her 10-year old daughter, Tianna. The chance meeting reveals an insidious criminal plot, and catalyzes a quest of redemption for the traumatized policeman, as the details surrounding his most recent case, as well as the childhood events which led to his dedication to law enforcement, are slowly revealed.
A TV series adaptation starring Dougray Scott began airing in 2021.
Provides examples of the following tropes:
- Anti-Climax: The hunt for "Mr. Confectioner" ends when he falls for a very simple trick exploiting Returning to the Scene. He's arrested without resistance or protest, smiling all the while.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: When teenage Ray tries to see his old friend Les, he's greeted by Les throwing live, flaming pigeons at him.
- Bait-and-Switch Gunshot: Lance pulls a gun on Ray at the end of a chapter. The next reveals he shoots himself.
- Berserk Button: Pedophilia and sexual crimes against children for Ray. There's a reason for it.
- Break the Haughty: Though Ray is easy prey for Mr. Confectioner's self-aggrandizing speeches, Gillman quite casually dismisses it, mocks the idea of him being a "predator", and intimidates the man into fearful silence.
- Bring My Brown Pants;
- When Ray and Tianna swap motel rooms, he finds she's peed the bed.
- Johnnie later sets himself when Day is beating and interrogating him.
- Bully Hunter: Ray decided to join the police because he hates bullies.
- Call-Back: When Ray confronts Hillman over sleeping with an underage sex worker, Hillman reminds Ray that he turned a blind eye to Bruce blackmailing an underage girl for sex back in Filth.
- Cannot Spit It Out: On multiple occasions Ray considers revealing to his exasperated fiancee just how depressed and broken he feels. He can never bring himself to do so, and the last time the urge hits him he responds by telling her to "fuck off".
- Contrived Coincidence: When Ray goes to a police station to report Johnnie for trying to molest Tianna, the first person he sees working there is the Johnnie's friend Lance who was there that night.
- Crapsack World: Every other man seems to be a paedophile.
- From the Mouths of Babes: Tianna says things no 10 year old should.
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Robyn, whose indulgences in alcohol, drugs, and partying with "friends" spell out horrible consequences for her 10-year old daughter.
- The Loins Sleep Tonight: Ray has problems getting hard since investigating Britney's murder and his mother cheats on his father for the same reason.
- Magical Seventh Son: A commentator invokes the trope when he says one of these with second sight wouldn't have guessed that Hearts would be playing for the championship.
- Memetic Molester: In-universe the police refer to the man who took Britney as "Mr Confectioner" after a character from this Toblerone ad
because he looks like a stereotype sex beast and bribes children with sweets. - Morality Pet: Tianna serves as one for Ray, sparking his Character Development and redemption quest.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Robyn, after Ray reveals what exactly her carefree, irresponsible life has exposed her beloved daughter to.
- Pædo Hunt: The focus of the story. Ray absolutely despises pedophiles and sexual predators especially after an encounter with such during his younger years. He considers crimes against children one of the few he can pursue as a policeman with absolutely no moral qualms, and is in fact the sole reason he became one. After witnessing an Attempted Rape against Tianna and subsequent revelations of past sexual abuse against her, he becomes adamantly dedicated to her safety.
- Parting-Words Regret: The last time Ray sees his father alive, he blows him off because he's annoyed that he won't stand up for himself to his cheating wife.
- Rape as Backstory: A late flashback reveals that Ray and his friend Les were raped by three men when they were children.
- Returning to the Scene: The police often use this habit of murderers to catch their targets, sometimes setting up fake graves which are under constant surveillance. It's how the egotistical Mr. Confectioner is caught.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Ray believes this about pedophilia, they're the only type of criminal he really wants to catch.
- Sequel Goes Foreign: Filth was set in Scotland, now we're in Miami.
- Sex Equals Love: How Tianna has been conditioned to think.
She's 10. - Smug Snake: Mr. Confectioner, who prides himself in being a criminal mastermind who can plan out flawless kidnapping, rape, and murder, while avoiding capture by the police. While Ray is taken in by the man's self-image, it's ultimately a result of his own issues with such people; the man is ultimately just a predator of weak, defenseless children, who, in final review, was captured using a very simple and common tactic.Gillman: All that stuff aboot being a hunter... made me laugh, that yin. Ye know, ah don’t see that. Ah see a middle-aged guy who lives at hame with ehs ma.
- Textual Celebrity Resemblance: Footballer Albert Kidd is said to look like Bobby Ball from the Cannon and Ball comedy duo.
- Tragic Keepsake: Tianna's baseball cards which are the only thing her father left her. This turns out to be a lie. She found them in an attic.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Tianna, a result of being raised by Robyn, surrounded by all manner of vices, as well as years of sexual abuse by her mother's boyfriends and associates. At one point, she decides that the best way to repay Ray's kindness is to sleep with him. Ray's reaction is understandable.
