Scottish crime thriller writer Stuart MacBride (http://www.stuartmacbride.com/) has treated us to a 9 course feast of Detective Logan McRae novels beginning with Cold Granite (2005), set in Aberdeen. His latest is a heart-stopping blood warmer from this author of three consecutive No. 1 bestsellers, including Birthdays for the Dead. The summary goes as follows. Eight years ago, the Inside Man abducted and killed four women. He left another three in critical condition, their stomachs slit open and a plastic doll stitched inside. Then he disappeared. Until now… Ash Henderson was a Detective Inspector on the initial investigation. Things haven’t exactly gone well since: his family has been destroyed, his career is in tatters, and one of Oldcastle’s most vicious criminals is making sure he spends the rest of his life in prison. But Dr Alice McDonald has other ideas. When a nurse turns up dead on waste ground behind Blackwall Hill – a doll stitched into her innards – Alice convinces one of the investigating teams to get Ash released and working the case. He’s out for as long as he’s useful. And if he’s out, he can get revenge. It isn’t going to be pretty and you can taste the blood already, I’m sure.
544 pages in Harper paperback edition
ISBN 978-0007344338
Stuart MacBride