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A review by mariasmusings
All That's Dead by Stuart MacBride
5.0
The most recent addition to the Logan McRae series is definitely the best yet. Set in Aberdeen, (the only place to rival the county of Midsomer for serial killers and astronomical body counts), our hero is working for Professional Standards in Police Scotland and is a Inspector. He is surrounded by the usual motley crew:
Sergeant Roberta Steel (formerly DCI) - a contender for the rudest and most politically incorrect character in crime fiction, Steel nevertheless remains a firm favourite with me. I was originally shocked by her behaviour but I have become somewhat immune and now just enjoy the dark humour in each novel and wonder what she will utter next. Despite her attitude, she delivers some of the best one liners.
Detective Sergeant Simon Rennie - when we first met Rennie, he was a mere DC and had joined McRae was part of the "screwup squad" run by Steel. He is now a DS and part of the PS team. He considers himself to be the best sidekick that McRae could ever have and is rather thick but he does try his best.
And finally, my favourite of the crew, DC Stewart "Tufty" Quirrel - the lovably daft member of the team. I'm not sure how Tufty has survived this long in the series, without someone (mainly Logan) attempting to kill him. But "I is Tufty" is hilarious and his ability to ignore the obvious and focus on the topic that interest to him, serves as comic relief to the seriousness of the investigation.
In 'All That's Dead', Logan has been assigned to support the unfortunate DI Frank King as he investigates to disappearance of a well-known professor. As always, the case is not as straightforward as it initially appears and soon we learn of several subsequent disappearances - the only connection between the victims being their pro-union stance. There is definitely a more political edge to this book than in previous novels, but only from the perspective of several characters, and the author does not attempt to force any opinions on the readers.
This is a gripping tale with plenty of twists to hold the readers attention and quite a few moments that grab you by the throat and do not let go.
According to the author Stuart MacBride, he approached the first book in the series, Cold Granite as "Mind you, I wanted Cold Granite to read as if it was from the middle of a series (lots of events from the past that are never explained) so you should be able to dip in and out in any order you fancy." And this remains true, whether you read one of the novellas or start with #12.
The stories listed in in chronological order (including the short stories and novella) are as follows: Cold Granite, Dying Light, Broken Skin, Flesh House, Blind Eye, Dark Blood, DI Steel’s Bad Heir Day, Shatter The Bones, Stramash, Close to the Bone, The 45% Hangover, 22 Dead Little Bodies, The Missing and the Dead, In the Cold Dark Ground, Now we are Dead, The Blood Road and the most recent Logan novel, All That's Dead.
Sergeant Roberta Steel (formerly DCI) - a contender for the rudest and most politically incorrect character in crime fiction, Steel nevertheless remains a firm favourite with me. I was originally shocked by her behaviour but I have become somewhat immune and now just enjoy the dark humour in each novel and wonder what she will utter next. Despite her attitude, she delivers some of the best one liners.
Detective Sergeant Simon Rennie - when we first met Rennie, he was a mere DC and had joined McRae was part of the "screwup squad" run by Steel. He is now a DS and part of the PS team. He considers himself to be the best sidekick that McRae could ever have and is rather thick but he does try his best.
And finally, my favourite of the crew, DC Stewart "Tufty" Quirrel - the lovably daft member of the team. I'm not sure how Tufty has survived this long in the series, without someone (mainly Logan) attempting to kill him. But "I is Tufty" is hilarious and his ability to ignore the obvious and focus on the topic that interest to him, serves as comic relief to the seriousness of the investigation.
In 'All That's Dead', Logan has been assigned to support the unfortunate DI Frank King as he investigates to disappearance of a well-known professor. As always, the case is not as straightforward as it initially appears and soon we learn of several subsequent disappearances - the only connection between the victims being their pro-union stance. There is definitely a more political edge to this book than in previous novels, but only from the perspective of several characters, and the author does not attempt to force any opinions on the readers.
This is a gripping tale with plenty of twists to hold the readers attention and quite a few moments that grab you by the throat and do not let go.
According to the author Stuart MacBride, he approached the first book in the series, Cold Granite as "Mind you, I wanted Cold Granite to read as if it was from the middle of a series (lots of events from the past that are never explained) so you should be able to dip in and out in any order you fancy." And this remains true, whether you read one of the novellas or start with #12.
The stories listed in in chronological order (including the short stories and novella) are as follows: Cold Granite, Dying Light, Broken Skin, Flesh House, Blind Eye, Dark Blood, DI Steel’s Bad Heir Day, Shatter The Bones, Stramash, Close to the Bone, The 45% Hangover, 22 Dead Little Bodies, The Missing and the Dead, In the Cold Dark Ground, Now we are Dead, The Blood Road and the most recent Logan novel, All That's Dead.