The new McBride is always a high point of the year

As noted in my previous reviews, I'm originally from Aberdeen, with a policeman father. McBride's books just 'wheech' me back home in an instant. I love the authentic sounds of Aiberdeen and the NE of Scotland. The narrator does a brilliant job, and reminds me of so many words that I never here down here in Sassenach land.

The storyline as always is thoroughly engaging - this was a very dark venture away from just straight policing. Yes, its probably not completely believable, but it makes for brilliant reading/listening. We saw very different sides of both Logan and Steele, and got even more wrapped up in their stories. It will be fascinating to see where their respective paths go on the next novel - can't wait.

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Brilliant!

Couldn't stop listening! I'm a Stuart Mcbride fan, but his Logan Macrae books just keep getting better. This can be enjoyed as a stand alone story, but I'd recommend starting at the first Logan story to enjoy them fully!

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Back on course again

Whilst #9 was a bit of a let down with Stuart seemingly scratching his head to get a decent story together - 'day in the life of a policeman', this volume fizzed along and had me extending my dog walk to get a good fix. Never in the history of policing, even in Scotland, can one man have been through so much over such a short time period of time and survived with some semblance of sanity - or does he listener?

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Marvellous

Just love this series. Humour; strong characters; and good stories. Poor downtrodden Logan McRae - but he always gets there in the end.

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He does it again

Would you listen to In the Cold Dark Ground again? Why?

Yes I would, so many plot twists and asides.

What did you like best about this story?

The black humour and the relationship between Logan and Steele.

Which character – as performed by Steve Worsley – was your favourite?

DCI Steele .

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I was taken aback in a few places and certainly a few gasps.

Any additional comments?

This series gets better and better, I can't wait to see what happens next to Logan and co.

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2 people found this helpful

Love the Logan Mcrae books

Stuart Mcbride has set up a good set of characters. The narration is excellent and I can't wait for the next book.

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Gripping!

The story line gripped me from the start. Not only an exciting read, but really interesting sub plots. It's also populated with totally believable characters. I intend to listen again, capturing the incidentals that I missed first time around!

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Well worth a listen

I really enjoyed this book but can't believe how two faced Logan is! I'm disappointed with him in this book but hope he redeems himself in the next. Great narration as usual.

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Darker, Colder, more conflicted - very Aberdeen.

Logan and DCI Steel are back to stop Aberdeenshire's next big crime wave. Logan's loyalty to his family, his conscience, and the law is truly tested whilst the snow falls, butties are eaten and smelly criminals are apprehended - all a cold February in Banff. This novel is lighter on gore than some of the previous ones, but heavier on the stuff that makes you really feel for the characters: it's quite dark. The pacing is excellent, and Steve Worsley's Doric is top-notch as always, ye ken.

It's refreshing read a series that shows the mental toll that being at the centre of all the horror, pain, and compromise of Logan's life have had on his character. Often by this stage in a long-running series the main character has built a wall of cynicism around himself, just to survive being the protagonist, that his development is either paused or re-set each novel. Stuart Macbride avoids making Logan a mental superman, rather than just a character that's luckier than most. Consequently it is psychologically darker than his previous novels - and since you should probably not start with book ten (there are a few in-jokes that have built up as the series has gone on) you'll know that it's really rather dark.

Stuart Macbride even lampshades Logan's protagonist nature by pointing out that he's still a DS, with his feet on the ground, despite having been at the centre of every single high-profile crime in Aberdeen. I'm glad that Macbride has managed to keep Logan's career 'realistic' without having to read about organisational management and policy in Police Scotland - and I love where the next book is potentially headed. Ther humour that stems from the real front-line of policing keeps the tone readable.

Through the series of novels, Macbride has shown that real terror stems not only from the psychopath with the knife as with his first novel, but also from facing yourself in the mirror after the consequences of your own compromises have exposed your loved ones to suffering. It's definitely a cold, dark day for our Logan McCrae.

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14 people found this helpful

Superlative

As you can see from the title I am now running out of adjectives to describe the brilliance of Stuart MacBride books. What can I say yet another massive success with a brilliant pairing of incise characterisation, comedy and darkness.

Where does Logan go from here? I can't wait to find out. But I suspect I'm going to have to because there's two more books to go and neither are directly Logan McRae!

"Oh b*¥#%le" as DI Steele would say!

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