Helpful Score: 2
I found this one to be rather fascinating with its gritty look at the underside of Glasgow's vice and corruption. The story is narrated by a gay appraiser, Rilke, for an auction house who finds some shocking photographs of an apparent female "snuff" victim in the property of a deceased owner of a large estate. Rilke is haunted by the photos and sets off to try to determine if they are real. Along the way, he encounters some unsavory facts about the former owner of the estate along with some other unsavory characters. The book includes some rather detailed descriptions of gay sex and the dark aspects of sex trafficking. Overall, I would give this a mild recommendation for delving into some unusual territory and some interesting subject matter including some aspects of the auctioneering trade.
Dark and gritty mystery. I've recently read both this and Welsh's book The Bullet Trick and found both to be gripping thrillers that I had to race through. They're very similar to each other though - if you're only going to read one, I would recommend The Cutting Room. Neither book is for the squeamish.