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The Dead of Winter: The chilling new thriller from the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Logan McRae series

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It's bad enough that everyone else is huddled at home during this blizzardy weather. But policeman don't have that luxury and DC Edward Reekie is on the job. He's just gotten a new boss, DI Victoria Montgomery-Porter and he's not sure how that will work out. His current assignment is to take a dying prisoner to a place where he can live his last few months.

Well ... this book certainly opens up in an unexpected manner. The prologue really is one of those killer (every pun intended) moments that draws me into a story, whether I like it or not. And I really did like it. Intriguing, chilling, quite literally for the characters, and with the kind of ending which catches you unawares and, in my case, made me absolutely want to know just what in the hell is going on. It's also the kind of prologue that Stuart MacBride is a master in, creating an overwhelming sense of suspicion from the start, particularly when it comes to one of the key characters. But as to their true nature, and the meaning of that opening scene - well the only way I was going to find out was to read the rest of the book, something that proved to be a rather unexpected, but enjoyable, experience. Now I am a huge fan of Stuart MacBride, and absolutely adore his Logan MacRae novels, however in recent years Stuart has been writing more standalone novels, and The Dead Of Winter is one. And so to UNIVERSITY, far too young, naive and stupid to be away from the family home, sharing a subterranean flat in one of the seedier bits of Edinburgh with a mad Irishman, and four other bizarre individuals. The highlight of walking to the art school in the mornings (yes: we were students, but we still did mornings) was trying not to tread in the fresh bloodstains outside our front door, and dodging the undercover CID officers trying to buy drugs. Lovely place. I liked Reekie as a character. He is trusting, out upon by his superior, and a bit of whipping boy at times (sound familiar?), but he is determined, if a little accident prone. His enthusiasm is endearing, and sometimes draining, and his attempt to get the community on side using the sugar not vinegar approach leads to some really comedic moments, highlighting that touch of naivety which endeared him to me. As for Montgomery-Porter (aka Bigtoria), she's abrupt, dismissive and very much distracted. A hard character to warm, with or without the thigh high snow drifts. I liked the idea for the community of ex-prisoners nestled in the Cairngorms but the plot became a bit far fetched for me and didn’t hold my interest.

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THE AUTHOR: Stuart MacBride lives in the northeast of Scotland with his wife Fiona, cats Gherkin, Onion and Beetroot, some hens, some horses and an impressive collection of assorted weeds. They leave Aberdeen and have the apparently straight forward task of transporting an ageing and dying prisoner, the notorious Mark Bishop, from HMP Grampian to live out his final days at Glenfarach. The weather is atrocious but they manage to make it to what looks like a picturesque place, but take a closer look and you might notice the huge number of CCTV cameras, that all the residents are tagged, and a strict curfew of 9pm is enforced. Yes, Glenfarach is home to ex-prisoners who have served their time, but whose release into the community is problematic, so you have a concentration of brutal, violent, hardened criminals, paedophiles, sexual offenders, etc.. After dropping off Bishop into the care of DS Erin Farrow, they are forced amidst worsening weather conditions to return after a resident is discovered murdered, having been tortured to death in his home, and this will not be the only death. You cannot say the Stuart MacBride writes ‘easy to read’ thrillers. I’m happy with that because I like to be challenged by a good story, with an intricate plot and surprising characters.

I always find MacBride's prose to be almost poetic in parts and his weather descriptions imbued the weather with its own unique character. I absolutely raced through The Dead Of Winter and i love love loved it! The writing style that Stuart MacBride has is unique in the crime fiction genre, others try to do something similar but no one can write like Stuart MacBride does. The aplomb, that he writes murder and gruesomeness in one sentence and then sarcastic humor in another is exceptional. Having myself, worked for the Police for 12 years in the 1990s, I’m well aware of the dark humor used in extreme situations to lift the pressure, Stuart writes that in such a realistic way it’s superb.But university and I did not see eye to eye, so off I went to work offshore. Like many all-male environments, working offshore was the intellectual equivalent of Animal House, only without the clever bits. Swearing, smoking, eating, more swearing, pornography, swearing, drinking endless plastic cups of tea... and did I mention the swearing? But it was more money than I'd seen in my life! There's something about being handed a wadge of cash as you clamber off the minibus from the heliport, having spent the last two weeks offshore and the last two hours in an orange, rubber romper suit / body bag, then blowing most of it in the pubs and clubs of Aberdeen. And being young enough to get away without a hangover. This is one creepy story. In fact all of Stuart MacBride’s stories are creepy. Even the titles are creepy. Creepy and so compelling that you can’t put them down. You have to know the next horrible thing one horrible character is going to do to an equally horrible character. The well written plot always goes smoothly on and on and on, pushing you, pulling you, dragging you, rolling right over you.

Despite this, I’m not put off the author’s books and I’m hopeful he’ll return to his usual form soon.

Retailers:

Barely a chapter into this book and I was hooked with a brilliantly concived twist that I wasn't expecting and, the writing just got better from there on in.

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