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mirificmoxie's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
carolyn0613's review against another edition
I really liked the characters in this book. The dialogue was great - really funny and true to life. I felt very sorry for poor Callum who was actually doing a half decent job with flashes of inspiration but who gets sorely rounded upon by his team. I found the ending a little far fetched though and which struggled to tie up all the loose ends in the plot apart from presenting them all as an epilogue. A bit of a cop out I feel. Overall a very enjoyable read and i would recommend and I would read this author and series again.
peter_gagne's review against another edition
2.0
The story was interesting, but 5he writing was clichéd and two-dimensional.
debtat2's review against another edition
5.0
I struggled to get into it at first particularly keeping track of the different characters and different strands of the story. But it did picked up very quickly and kept me totally entertained and gripped to the point of not wanting to put it down. Halfway through, I actually thought that I'd figured out who the killer was but WOW, how wrong was I?! And then the twists and turns really began.
There’s a serial killer loose mummifying bodies whilst there are other strands of sub-plots that all combine together but at times I lost track of which killer we were following! I'm glad I don't live in Stuart MacBride's imagination - it's a pretty gruesome place! This could be one of the most twisted books I've ever read (and i have read a fair few!), and while disturbing in content, it is an excellent piece of entertainment and clever writing with the way the plot intertwined with different crimes and characters.
I did workout that the frequent italics were previous events, conversations or internal meanderings, which once sussed made sense!
I wish this wasn't a standalone and we could see more of the Misfit Mob's cases and the characters in this book are worthy of their own series!!
All in all I thought the story was pretty far-fetched but gripping, sharp and very funny! It is a Very long, door stopper of a book so not a quick read and I think the size of the book is what helps to make it so great and not rushed.
I would highly recommended this book too readers who like a complex thriller full of action and suspense.
This was my first book by MacBride, it certainly won't be the last, I've heard good things about the Logan series, so I think I will check those out next :-)
There’s a serial killer loose mummifying bodies whilst there are other strands of sub-plots that all combine together but at times I lost track of which killer we were following! I'm glad I don't live in Stuart MacBride's imagination - it's a pretty gruesome place! This could be one of the most twisted books I've ever read (and i have read a fair few!), and while disturbing in content, it is an excellent piece of entertainment and clever writing with the way the plot intertwined with different crimes and characters.
I did workout that the frequent italics were previous events, conversations or internal meanderings, which once sussed made sense!
I wish this wasn't a standalone and we could see more of the Misfit Mob's cases and the characters in this book are worthy of their own series!!
All in all I thought the story was pretty far-fetched but gripping, sharp and very funny! It is a Very long, door stopper of a book so not a quick read and I think the size of the book is what helps to make it so great and not rushed.
I would highly recommended this book too readers who like a complex thriller full of action and suspense.
This was my first book by MacBride, it certainly won't be the last, I've heard good things about the Logan series, so I think I will check those out next :-)
bumsonseats's review against another edition
3.0
Dark comedy with the usual police procedural that I expected. At times it dragged but I couldn't stop reading.
kcfromaustcrime's review against another edition
5.0
If the universe wants to be particularly nice to us, it will make sure that A DARK SO DEADLY is the start of a new series from Stuart MacBride. There are echoes here of his long running Logan McRae series, but it's delivered with a slightly straighter bat (you'd have to be dead set in front to pick it though), and lots and lots of potential for places for the Misfit Mob to go and crims for them to annoy.
A haphazard grouping of cops who have been in trouble in the force, one who is most definitely not going gently into any sort of night - good or otherwise, and a female boss who is slightly erratic but nowhere near as in your face as DI Steel from the McRae series and there's so much potential here it's hard to know where to start. There's heaps of gallows humour that had this reader somewhere between smirking and laughing loudly at points, and then there's some beautifully dodgy villains, some over the top scenarios (mummified bodies for goodness sake) and that uncomfortable awareness that a scenario quite this horrible really shouldn't be making the reader laugh this much. But then readers, like the cops they are reading about, have to get through the worst of the worst, and MacBride is a genius at making it all feel like the world's gotten seriously it's weird and sick but it's going to be okay.
The Misfit Mob might even work out a way to be okay. You'd have to hope so as there will be some serious sulking in these parts if the universe screws this up on us, and this isn't the start of a new series.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-dark-so-deadly-stuart-macbride
A haphazard grouping of cops who have been in trouble in the force, one who is most definitely not going gently into any sort of night - good or otherwise, and a female boss who is slightly erratic but nowhere near as in your face as DI Steel from the McRae series and there's so much potential here it's hard to know where to start. There's heaps of gallows humour that had this reader somewhere between smirking and laughing loudly at points, and then there's some beautifully dodgy villains, some over the top scenarios (mummified bodies for goodness sake) and that uncomfortable awareness that a scenario quite this horrible really shouldn't be making the reader laugh this much. But then readers, like the cops they are reading about, have to get through the worst of the worst, and MacBride is a genius at making it all feel like the world's gotten seriously it's weird and sick but it's going to be okay.
The Misfit Mob might even work out a way to be okay. You'd have to hope so as there will be some serious sulking in these parts if the universe screws this up on us, and this isn't the start of a new series.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-dark-so-deadly-stuart-macbride
cfogg's review against another edition
4.0
This book totally surprised me. I struggled to get into it at first particularly keeping track of the different characters and different strands of the story. However, it picked up very quickly and kept me more than entertained with plenty of twists and turns. Halfway through, I actually thought that I'd figured out who the killer was but how wrong was I?!
Callum MacGregor and the rest of the Misfit Mob are extremely likeable characters and you are rooting for Callum all the way through to get some streak of good luck.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book but my only negative would be that I thought it was a little bit too long. It probably could have done with being about 200 pages shorter.
This is the first book that I have read by Stuart MacBride and I would definitely like to start reading the Logan McRae series.
Callum MacGregor and the rest of the Misfit Mob are extremely likeable characters and you are rooting for Callum all the way through to get some streak of good luck.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book but my only negative would be that I thought it was a little bit too long. It probably could have done with being about 200 pages shorter.
This is the first book that I have read by Stuart MacBride and I would definitely like to start reading the Logan McRae series.
nickmasters's review against another edition
5.0
When the opening chapter made me feel like I was in some type of modern crime scene with a Discworld’ish feel to it I knew I was going to enjoy the entire book.
Thoroughly enjoyed this read. Loved the characters, loved the plot with its constant twists and connections. Very fun book.
Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thoroughly enjoyed this read. Loved the characters, loved the plot with its constant twists and connections. Very fun book.
Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for a copy in exchange for an honest review.
constantreader471's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars
This is a stand alone by the author. Detective Constable Callum MacGregor of the Scotland Police is a character that reminds me of Job in the bible. Every bad thing that you can imagine happens to him. He is assigned to a "misfit squad" because management believes that he took a bribe by ruining crime evidence and causing a major criminal to go free. In fact, it was his pregnant girlfriend, who is a crime scene technician. His squad is assigned what looks like a joke-- investigating a mummy found in a garbage dump. This is a very long book, 604p. It held my interest with some false leads, as the team gradually realize that they are dealing with a serial killer.
There is a humorous side to the book as some weird dietary habits are mentioned--raspberry jam on anchovy pizza?!
I think the book was a little too long. The characters were believable and plot led up to a satisfactory ending. Another character that I liked was Rosalind Franklin, an attractive black woman, sent to the misfit squad after she punched a Superintendent who grabbed her bottom.
Some quotes by Callum:
"Why did no one ever come back when they were told to? Anyone would think that people didn't want to get arrested."
"Poor sod. Living with Franklin must be like trying to cross a minefield on a pogo stick every day. Blindfold. While sadists threw burning squirrels at you."
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, HarperCollins for sending me this book.
This is a stand alone by the author. Detective Constable Callum MacGregor of the Scotland Police is a character that reminds me of Job in the bible. Every bad thing that you can imagine happens to him. He is assigned to a "misfit squad" because management believes that he took a bribe by ruining crime evidence and causing a major criminal to go free. In fact, it was his pregnant girlfriend, who is a crime scene technician. His squad is assigned what looks like a joke-- investigating a mummy found in a garbage dump. This is a very long book, 604p. It held my interest with some false leads, as the team gradually realize that they are dealing with a serial killer.
There is a humorous side to the book as some weird dietary habits are mentioned--raspberry jam on anchovy pizza?!
I think the book was a little too long. The characters were believable and plot led up to a satisfactory ending. Another character that I liked was Rosalind Franklin, an attractive black woman, sent to the misfit squad after she punched a Superintendent who grabbed her bottom.
Some quotes by Callum:
"Why did no one ever come back when they were told to? Anyone would think that people didn't want to get arrested."
"Poor sod. Living with Franklin must be like trying to cross a minefield on a pogo stick every day. Blindfold. While sadists threw burning squirrels at you."
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, HarperCollins for sending me this book.
windy_witch's review against another edition
5.0
The story follows a young detective in the Scottish police force called Callum MacGregor, who joined the police force to try and help people and protect those that need protecting having grown up in care himself. However the young detective still does not have an easy life and anything and everything goes wrong in this darkly comic story of hunting down a serial killer.
Callum was recently moved from another division to the misfit brigade in the police force because a crime scene was contaminated, although he is actually covering for his heavily pregnant girlfriend. The Misfit team always receive the poor end of the stick in terms of cases that is until several apparently mummified bodies turn up in the town tip. As more and more bodies and body parts are discovered the team work mostly against each other to hunt down the killer, before he strikes again.
I especially like the strong characters and really felt some empathy with poor Callum is totally down on his luck and being screwed over left, right and center.
This book is truly gritty and very graphic with some excellent dark humour that will have you spraying your coffee out of your nose at all the appropriate places! This book totally had me hooked, the humour is so me!
I had never read any of Stuart McBride's novels before and but I will be starting now on the famous Logan McRae series as if A Dark So Deadly is anything to go by they will be a fantastic read.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book for a review.
Callum was recently moved from another division to the misfit brigade in the police force because a crime scene was contaminated, although he is actually covering for his heavily pregnant girlfriend. The Misfit team always receive the poor end of the stick in terms of cases that is until several apparently mummified bodies turn up in the town tip. As more and more bodies and body parts are discovered the team work mostly against each other to hunt down the killer, before he strikes again.
I especially like the strong characters and really felt some empathy with poor Callum is totally down on his luck and being screwed over left, right and center.
This book is truly gritty and very graphic with some excellent dark humour that will have you spraying your coffee out of your nose at all the appropriate places! This book totally had me hooked, the humour is so me!
I had never read any of Stuart McBride's novels before and but I will be starting now on the famous Logan McRae series as if A Dark So Deadly is anything to go by they will be a fantastic read.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book for a review.