"Riveting! A brilliantly crafted mystery involving moral dilemmas and horrific crimes!"
Reviewed by Audrey Lawrence
Posted June 19, 2015
Mystery | Thriller
He did the best he could. Logan's focus is on saving
the man's life. How could it all go so very, very wrong?
Best laid plans and good intention were not garnering
Acting Detective Logan MacRae the attention he wanted or
expected. Now Acting Detective Logan McRae is back out
on the road in uniform as a Duty Sergeant with partner
Janet Nicholson. They are, as he says, keeping
Aberdeenshire North safe from scoundrels, scallywags
and meandering cattle on the road.
Logan isn't happy with his "development opportunity" that
has moved him out the action that he likes to be
involved with, but he likes his team and is starting to
settle into his new routines. Now, with the dark cloud
of the court case hanging over his head, Logan wants
to do what he can to set things right. Then, when a
little girl's lifeless body washes up in a pool near the
sea by the small town of Banff, he wants to find who did
this horrible crime. As the Major Investigation Team
moves in from the big city of Aberdeen, will he get his
chance to investigate or not?
THE MISSING AND THE DEAD is the ninth novel in the Sunday
Times best-selling Stuart MacBride's Logan McRae
series
set in the rural and coastal area of northeastern
Scotland. It is a very compelling account of a police
investigator who strives to do what is right while
balancing that with the dilemma of what is legal. Right
from the first page, MacBride instantly pulls the reader
right into the action as the story moves from a panting
chase to a shocking court verdict.
Police action never stops in this deftly written, complex
and multilayered story as MacBride takes us on an
insider's look at Logan's experiences and feelings and
how he manages to ruffle the feathers of some superiors,
even when trying not to do so. With nods to MacBride's
solid research skills, THE MISSING AND THE DEAD also
provides a very interesting look at how police action is
organized in Scotland and how it is changing over time.
I found THE MISSING AND THE DEAD to be a thoroughly
engrossing read, not only for complex story line as
different crimes where being investigated, but also for
the very realistic way MacBride brings to light all the
things large and small that keep police going. The
reader is right in the action as horrific crime scenes
are being described, on stakeouts of the local drug
dealers or interviewing suspected predators. Then, like
nuggets of caramel in this dank darkness are the
officers' delight at getting back in time for
"elevenses" or sneaking snacks from others back at the
station.
While THE MISSING AND THE DEAD reads very well as a
stand-alone book as MaxBride gives insights to events and
characters introduced in the earlier books, I am sure
Logan and Steel fans of this MacBride series will be
thrilled and very happy with this latest installment.
THE MISSING AND THE DEAD has such a strong degree of
realism to it that it makes for a highly compelling story
right from the beginning to its intriguing conclusion.
I particularly like Logan MacRae as a character. He is
content to save money by eating cheap lentil soup
everyday so he can pay for the 24 hour care for his
girlfriend Samantha who is in a coma as a result of
injuries from a previous investigation by Logan. His
relationship with his ex-boss Roberta Steel and their
interesting family relation is also very intriguing.
Helen is also a most interesting woman and I hope she re-
appears in the future. One of Macbride's many talents is
his terrific skill at bringing his characters to life.
From cop to criminal, they are all easily visualized and
are authentic in their actions and motivations.
If you like non-stop action and highly unusual police
related stories, you will definitely want to delve into
THE MISSING AND THE DEAD. It can be tough to read in
parts and ever harder to put down!
SUMMARY
The new Logan McRae novel from the No. 1 bestselling
author of CLOSE TO THE
BONE and A SONG FOR THE DYING. One mistake can cost you everything… When you catch a twisted killer there should be a reward,
right? What Acting
Detective Inspector Logan McRae gets instead is a
‘development opportunity’
out in the depths of rural Aberdeenshire. Welcome to
divisional policing –
catching drug dealers, shop lifters, vandals and the odd
escaped farm
animal. Then a little girl’s body washes up just outside the
sleepy town of Banff,
kicking off a massive manhunt. The Major Investigation
Team is up from
Aberdeen, wanting answers, and they don’t care who they
trample over to get
them. Logan’s got enough on his plate keeping B Division
together, but DCI Steel
wants him back on her team. As his old colleagues stomp
around the
countryside, burning bridges, Logan gets dragged deeper
and deeper into the
investigation. One thing’s clear: there are dangerous predators lurking
in the wilds of
Aberdeenshire, and not everyone’s going to get out of this
alive…
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