Scotland

Writing a long term series has to create some issues for authors that probably some of we fans rarely consider. All we want is the next book. IN THE COLD DARK GROUND is the 10th in the Logan McRae series from Stuart MacBride, and I'm really sorry about this but I want the 11th pretty well now. As in straight away.

It goes without saying that I've always been a huge fan of this series, and aside from the wonderful, strong, often slightly eccentric characters, the reason for that is the constant changes in circumstance that McRae, DCI Steel and those around them find themselves dealing with. Lives change in these books, not always in a good way, and IN THE COLD DARK GROUND everyone seems to end up dealing with some really hefty crap. 

Whilst you'd think that the personal would be more than enough for McRae to be going on with, along comes the pain-in-the-neck upper echelon type in the form of a new Superintendent of the Serious Organised Crime Task Force who muscles her way into his investigation of a missing person who turned up dead in very odd circumstances. Mind you, that's nothing compared to how close Professional Standards are getting to DCI Steel - close enough to find McRae doing a turn as a tightrope walker between a couple of particularly tricky snakepits. Mind you, nothing from the professional side of life compares to the bucket loads of grief that come to McRae when Wee Hamish Mowat dies leaving rival gangs eyeing his territory, and McRae in charge of his estate.

Needless to say, IN THE COLD DARK GROUND is exactly the sort of slightly manic action, pressure, personal complications, don't blink or you'll miss something roller-coaster that is a Logan McRae novel. There's always just enough to tweak the heart strings, more than enough to make a reader laugh, and the slightest feeling that everybody's gone a bit mad. As you'd probably do when the weather's always wet, cold and dank, the police house remains a dump, your colleagues are still a bunch of numpty's and what was already a really sucky personal life has just got a whole lot bloody worse.

As much as I'd love to say that if you're a new reader to this series than just get on with it, it's one that you really have to read in order. The personal / professional crossover is pretty complicated and there's so much history to McRae, Steel and the rest of the mad bunch that you're really going to have to know who is what, and how they all ended up in the middle of nowhere dodging Professional Standards, staring at some very odd home movies.

A mystery set within a bubble very much heightens the senses when reading COFFIN ROAD.  The action is placed within an isolated small seaside town and there are very few characters for the reader to learn about and glean clues from.  The lead, who has lost his memory, retraces his steps in an effort to find out who he is, what kind of man he is, and what it is that he has done that has left him with such a leaden feeling of dread. 

May reaches deep into the psyche of his lead character and we are immersed very quickly in his nightmare.  Having washed up on a beach with injuries, Neal Maclean seems to have no family, no close friends, and lives in a cottage bereft of meaning personal effects with only his dog for company. He is compelled however to traverse what is locally known as Coffin Road, a walkers trail along the coastline.  As fleeting memories return to Neal, it becomes even more puzzling to him as to why he has chosen to remove himself from all he has known to live in this beautiful but remote part of Scotland. When he discovers a man’s body on a nearby island, Neal becomes more convinced that the reason why he came to be alone in this remote part of the world was because he had felt a need to hide.

Peter May never loses his way in COFFIN ROAD, coaxing his reader forward as Neal Maclean becomes more desperate to solve the mystery that his own life.  COFFIN ROAD is a beautifully descriptive novel as well as being a very personal one; the roar of the wind and the crashing of the ocean are ever present as the melancholic backdrop to one mans’ desperation.  The amnesia is thankfully only a minor plot device (that old chestnut) and it is not a novel about one man rediscovering himself – there are other forces at play that are very left field to the moody first half of this book.

Fans of Peter May will gleefully add COFFIN ROAD to their collection and new readers would be pleased with this almost closed room mystery that needs very few literary props to satisfy.

BLUE WICKED is the second book by Scottish author Alan Jones I’ve read. Each of them have come with warnings about strong language and use of the Glasgow dialect which is more of an attraction than deterrent for this reader.

The author’s first novel, THE CABINET MAKER, was an interesting variation on standard crime fiction fare. BLUE WICKED has a similar concept at the core, although it does ramp up the confrontation considerably.

Whilst the language and style is an attraction, the graphic and seemingly relentless animal cruelty and abuse at the start of book less so. Despite this sounding like a very unpleasant suggestion, stick with it. A brave opening by this author, there are parallels between the appalling killing of cats, and the human victims that start appearing. At that point the warnings of vet Eddie Henderson, mostly ignored by police, are noticed and taken seriously by a young detective who is convinced enough to put her own job on the line.

Right from the start, when the first death, and investigation, are quickly revealed to be that of a feline victim, there’s an interesting balancing act undertaken by Jones. The well-known taboo of crime fiction about not harming animals is blithely but not gratuitously ignored. There is something very revealing about the difference in reactions to explicit and vile cruelty to human victims as opposed to feline - and it’s not hard to see how the obvious parallels by the deaths could be dismissed or disregarded by investigators. 

Good pacing and a solid plot support interesting characters, with Henderson in particular an unusual prospect. For those who were fortunate enough to read THE CABINETMAKER there are parallels again in the way that male characters are constructed. Flawed and introverted, dedicated and yet somehow slightly sad and put-upon there is a romantic element here that’s balanced well against the grimness of the situation that brings all of these characters together.

Obviously this is going to be a tricky undertaking for readers who absolutely hate the inclusion of animal cruelty in their crime fiction. In defence of BLUE WICKED there’s care and concern, and a reason.

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I was pleased to be invited to join a blog tour for BLUE WICKED by the author (who also provided a copy of his book to me for review). You can find out more / purchase at:

Amazon.co.uk 

Amazon.com 

Find Alan on Twitter at @alanjonesbooks or on Facebook

A perfectly formed piece of glorious over the topness featuring Logan McRae, DCI Steel and the recent Scottish independence referendum. Which of course isn't going to bode well. I mean it's part of the world that gave us Whisky. And people who drink whisky. When they are happy, sad, or stressed. All of which DCI Steel manages to be during the lead up to, and the night of the count.

Not that McRae particularly cares. As usual he's just trying to get a shift under his belt, and maybe find a missing 'No' campaigner. Which, well, it ends hilariously. And vaguely disturbingly.

As you'd expect. The 45% HANGOVER is a perfectly formed little delivery of hilarity combined with a refreshingly honest viewpoint on the whole independence question. But a word of warning - perhaps don't read the concluding bits on a full stomach. And certainly not if you've had way too many whisky's.