Book Review: All That's Dead by Stuart MacBride, world stovies champion, cat lover and one of my favourite tartan noir novelists.

Available here

I love a good Stuart MacBride ... I especially love a good Stuart MacBride when there's a long suffering Logan McRae and a bad (oh so very bad ... and decidedly naughty) Roberta Steele in the mix. The dynamics between the characters is fresh despite the fact we're into double figures now with this series and with each new book it seems that MacBride always manages to create distinct voices for his characters. So ... what's All That's Dead about? Well, here's the blurb ... 

BLURB

There’s a darkness in the heart of Scotland…

The stunning new Logan McRae thriller from No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller Stuart MacBride.

Scream all you want, no one can hear…

Inspector Logan McRae is looking forward to a nice simple case – something to ease him back into work after a year off on the sick. But the powers-that-be have other ideas…

The high-profile anti-independence campaigner, Professor Wilson, has gone missing, leaving nothing but bloodstains behind. There’s a war brewing between the factions for and against Scottish Nationalism. Infighting in the police ranks. And it’s all playing out in the merciless glare of the media. Logan’s superiors want results, and they want them now.

Someone out there is trying to make a point, and they’re making it in blood. If Logan can’t stop them, it won’t just be his career that dies.

All That's Dead kicks off with a dramatic, almost cinematic, horror type, first chapter ... it was one of those where I was very nearly on the edge of my seat ready to screech. In true MacBride style he builds the tension to  a crescendo, that was almost so acute it was like scraping fingernails across a blackboard ... then the plot thickens. 

Talking of plot ... brilliant ... links and subplots and interlinks are woven so tightly, you can't see the seams. From suspects to targets to police... the clues are all there, leading to a very satisfying climax.  

I love the way he links current agendas with past ones and the introduction of domestic terrorism, not focusing on Muslims, is a refreshing change. But, as ever with MacBride, it is the characterisation that draws me in. I love Tufty ... love the linguistic idiosyncracies, love the way he jumps off the page as a very real, lovable character... the epilogue was pure genius! But more than that ... it's the human element that is so intriguing in MacBride's body of work. The little observations that pique your interest, the little comments that build the characters into unique entities, the kindness hidden under veneers of selfishness (I'll let you work out which character each of the above relates to) that are so compelling. 

MacBride's usual mix of humour and darkness never fails to impress me and it is that balance that keeps the characters human. As usual, family life and relationships are threaded beautifully through the drama of the ongoing police investigation. Poor Logan, still working in Professional Standards, could well do without being dragged into this investigation, yet he just gets on with it. 

I loved this and I don't think anyone would be disappointed with it. 5*'s from me.