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But there was always the writing (well, that's not true, the writing only started two chapters above this one). I fell victim to that most dreadful of things: peer pressure. Two friends were writing novels and I thought, 'why not? I could do that'. Why did I keep reading? I don't really know, I think I was at that stage of thinking I had read so far down the book I might as well hang in to the end to see how it turned out. Ash and Alice actually have a falling out in this book and much of the action happens while Ash is working with another member of the Lateral Investigation and Review Unit (LIRU) or with his old police buddy D.I.Shifty Morrow. Henry the Scottie dog accompanies them and caused the most stress for me in the course of the story.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Coffinmaker’s Garden which is a gripping read with the added bonus of a lot of dark humour. I couldn’t put it down and was disappointed when it finished, although, as ever, with a laugh. Then came a spell of working for myself as a graphic designer, which went the way of all flesh and into the heady world of studio management for a nation-wide marketing company. Then some more freelance design work, a handful of voiceovers for local radio and video production companies and a bash at being an actor (with a small 'a'), giving it up when it became clear there was no way I was ever going to be good enough to earn a decent living. The plot kept me interested throughout with the two main strands and several side issues to occupy my mind. I felt as if my mind was constantly whirring with possible scenarios of how it would play out and being wrong at every turn as it took a different direction. There is the mystery of the unknown child killer and there is the hunt for the murderous pensioner Gordon Smith, who still has all his marbles and hasn’t given up his urges. It’s great stuff. Ash is a Superhero - able to continue despite all the beatings, injuries, amputations, torture, stabbings and shootings he receives along the way. But he's the nasty evil Superhero with a psychopathic love of inflicting pain and torturing anyone he assumes to have done wrong. This to me was the ultimate hypocrisy as he himself doesn't seem to even know the rules, let alone follow them. Once again a great plot. 2 cases ongoing dfor the sort-of dynamic duo Ash and Alice. Both with their own demons to bring along and both of which are constantly reminded of.Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. It is set to be published in January 2021. I have enjoyed the 'Logan, McRae' series for a few years now and would highly recommend it to readers who fancy a crime series that's full of humour and a little different. I have been meaning t start this series for sometime and although I realise it is not an ideal place to start with book 3 I didn't feel that it spoilt my enjoyment of this book. There was plenty to like about this book and I had mixed feelings throughout without completely connecting with either the characters or plot. For me the characters were too similar to the one's I already know from Stuart MacBride's other series. Ash Henderson is arrogant, rude, violent and treats everyone as less intelligent than himself. The only person he appears to have some tenderness for is McDonald, a functioning alcoholic who can't work unless she's had a large helping of alcohol. None of the characters was likeable: Alice in particular acts and talks like a sulking toddler rather than a grownup, a forensic psychologist no less. But, in the meantime, I had to get on with the day job and produce a proper full-length police thriller. One that didn’t include haunted funfairs, mummies, or anatomically impossible taxidermy. And still the question remained: what the hell was I going to do about the pandemic?
Home> Fiction from Scotland> The Coffinmaker’s Garden The Coffinmaker’s Garden By (author) Stuart MacBride; Read by TBA MacBride has loved crime fiction ever since mainlining the Hardy Boys as a child. He tried writing his first book in his mid-20s, as a couple of friends were giving it a go; he wrote a “dreadful” comedy crime novel, but persevered and landed an agent. His fifth attempt at a novel, Cold Granite, became his debut: the first in the Logan McRae series, it sees the Aberdeen detective sergeant out to catch a child killer who is stalking the city’s streets. MacBride called up the Grampian police and a hospital mortuary, asking questions about everything from police procedure to rigor mortis. I know I'm the odd one out here, but I really didn't enjoy this book. Too violent. Too dark. Too much rule breaking. Too much torture. Too much sexism. Too much racism. Too incredulous. There’s still an element of ‘crime fiction as a mirror’ about it, but a lot of ‘crime fiction as an escape’ too. Maybe not quite as much of an escape as Tufty the Vampire Slayer, or The Horrible Haunting of Tartan Haggis MacFunland, but an escape nonetheless. No one would ever want to cross this author. Death would be painful and drawn out, the body never recovered. He's so good, he's scary!!! Oldcastle is a fictional town in the northeast of Scotland, home to 'Mother's Misfits', the dumping ground for Police Scotland's disgraced and undesirables. It's also a place where terrible things happen.
All those small, square photographs in their rectangular white 'frames', the greying plastic stained with the dark swirls of bloody fingerprints. Stuart MacBride’s books are always so good and this is one is no different. This book is clever, gritty and funny. The end was okay and there were not bits left hanging, except his last victim. Maybe the best was the little dog was okay and it was with him the book was finally finished.
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