Denzil Meyrick, one of the finest Scottish crime writers of his generation, has died. His passing at the age of fifty-nine was announced today by his agent, Jo Bell. Denzil, best known as the author of the DCI Daley novels set in Glasgow and the fictional close-knit community of Kinloch, died on 14 February.

Denzil was known for the skill with which he pinned to the page the reality of life on the streets of Glasgow along with the issues of the small rural communities of Scotland, a talent which caught the attention of a wide reading public across the UK and well beyond.

With his characteristic humour, unwavering determination and his dry personality Denzil was west of Scotland through and through, and he created unforgettable detective and criminal characters. He brought the DCI Daley novels to the Scottish publisher Birlinn Ltd in 2014 and published eleven books in that series alone before moving new work to Transworld. The creation of DCI Daley (and his trusty sidekick DS Scott), first encountered as a young police officer pounding the beat in Glasgow and followed across years in Kintyre and the community of Kinloch – years which were not always kind to him –  is surely his greatest achievement.

Denzil – along with his characters – will always be remembered as a friend to the Birlinn team. He was a one-off. We were lucky to know him and our thoughts go out to his wife, Fiona.

Denzil Meyrick was born in Glasgow on 28 November 1965 and brought up in Campbeltown. After studying politics, he spent time as a police officer, freelance journalist, and director of several companies. He penned the successful DCI Daley series and saw every book in the series reach the number one slot in bestselling UK audiobooks on Audible. First in the DCI Daley series, Whisky from Small Glasses was Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year back in 2015 and remains a top seller to this day. To the delight of his readers, in addition to his DCI Daley titles, three fine Kinloch novellas appeared – A Large Measure of Snow, A Toast to the Old Stones and Ghosts in the Gloaming – and a collection of DCI Daleyshort stories, One Last Dram Before Midnight. 

A stand-alone, gangland novel, Terms of Restitution, was published by Birlinn in 2022.

DCI Daley titles

·      Whisky from Small Glasses

·      The Last Witness

·      Dark Suits and Sad Songs

·      The Rat Stone Serenade

·      Well of the Winds

·      The Relentless Tide

·      A Breath on Dying Embers

·      Jeremiah’s Bell

·      For Any Other Truth

·      The Death of Remembrance

·      No Sweet Sorrow

Transworld published a new book, Murder at Holly House, in November 2023 and a second book, The Christmas Stocking Murders, in November 2024. The Estate was published in May 2024.

Praise for Denzil Meyrick:

‘You’ll have a blast with these’ Ian Rankin

‘If you have never read one of Meyrick’s mysteries now is the time’ The Times

‘Deserves to be up there with the best’ LoveReading

‘Universal truths . . . engaging and eventful’ The Wall Street Journal

‘The right amount of authenticity . . . gritty writing . . . most memorable’ The Herald

‘Deftly plotted . . . satisfyingly nuanced and complex’ Irish Times

‘A first-class, fast-moving thriller, brilliantly atmospheric, all in a setting in which the cold of winter is not the only chill’ crimereview.co.uk

‘This is a book that deserves to be read by all lovers of Scottish crime fiction – or, indeed, of any crime fiction’ Undiscovered Scotland

‘Meyrick has a light touch other crime writers don’t have. Highly readable and enjoyable’Scotland on Sunday

‘Jim Daley and Brian Scott are like a fine cask whisky. They improve each and every year. What a fabulous read, compelling to the very end’ David Gilchrist, Founder of UK Crime Club

Denzil Meyrick, writer, born 28 November 1965; died 14 February 2025.