Liam McIlvanney Books in Order
Liam McIlvanney has written 9 books, published between 2002 and 2025. The first book is Burns the Radical (2002) and the newest is The Good Father (2025). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 9
- Published
- 2002–2025
- Pages on record
- 2,335 in 7 of 9 books
- Reading time
- 39–58 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,335 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 7 of 9 titles with a page count on record.
Liam McIlvanney writes crime fiction and literary scholarship. The academic books came first: Burns the Radical (2002), Ireland and Scotland (2005), The Good of the Novel (2011) and The Cambridge Companion to Scottish Literature (2012). The novels run alongside them, across All the Colours of the Town (2009), Where the Dead Men Go (2013), The Quaker (2018), The Heretic (2022) and The Good Father (2025), in two recorded series, the Conway Trilogy and Duncan McCormack. Scotland, journalism, politics and murder investigation supply the subject matter. McIlvanney is Scottish-born, holds the Stuart Chair in Scottish studies at the University of Otago in New Zealand as its inaugural holder, and is the son of William McIlvanney.
How many Liam McIlvanney books are there?
Liam McIlvanney has 9 books, released between 2002 and 2025. They include 2 series and 5 titles listed outside any series.
Liam McIlvanney Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 9 Liam McIlvanney books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 1Burns the Radical2002 · 262 pages · confirmed 1/420022621/4
- 2Ireland and Scotland2005 · 284 pages · confirmed 1/420052841/4
- 320093361/4
- 4The Good of the Novel2011 · confirmed 1/42011–1/4
- 5The Cambridge Companion to Scottish Literature2012 · 301 pages · confirmed 1/420123011/4
- 620133521/4
- 720184001/4
- 820224001/4
- 9The Good Father2025 · confirmed 1/42025–1/4
Liam McIlvanney books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Conway Trilogy in order
2 booksDuncan McCormack in order
2 books- 1. The Quaker
- 2. The Heretic
Standalone books
5 books5 Liam McIlvanney titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Liam McIlvanney books in order?
You only need to read Liam McIlvanney books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with Liam McIlvanney
Start with Burns the Radical (2002), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Liam McIlvanney book?
The Good Father (2025) is the newest Liam McIlvanney book released so far.
Is there a new Liam McIlvanney book coming?
No next Liam McIlvanney book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Liam McIlvanney at a glance
- Still publishing
- Liam McIlvanney published a book as recently as 2025.
- Release pace
- Liam McIlvanney books have appeared about one every 3 years on average.
- Length
- 2,335 pages across the 7 of 9 books with a recorded length, a median of 336 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Liam McIlvanney books, 4 of 9, were published in the 2010s.
What the Liam McIlvanney books are about
7 of the 9 Liam McIlvanney books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: history is tagged on 3 of 7. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- History 3 of 7 books
- History and criticism 3 of 7 books
- Crime 2 of 7 books
- English literature 2 of 7 books
- Journalists 2 of 7 books
- Mystery & detective 2 of 7 books
- Politics and government 2 of 7 books
- Politics and literature 2 of 7 books
- Scotland 2 of 7 books
- Scottish authors 2 of 7 books