This house of burning bones

The thirteenth Logan McRae mystery (since All That's Dead, 2019) begins with the botched apprehension of a murder suspect and a high-octane chase sequence that ends in disaster. Not the Aberdeen police department's finest hour, but let's be fair: half the force is out on sick leave and D.I. McRae is trying to solve a major case--the firebombing of a hotel--with a bunch of cops who aren't what you might call the cream of the crop. The plot is carefully constructed, with a very satisfying payoff, and MacBride's energetic writing style propels readers through the story (the opening chase sequence is downright cinematic). As usual, his characters are delightful, and his dialogue is full of colorful Scottish idioms and made-up curse words ("scrunkfudgers"). And yet, for all this, there is a darkness to the book, an underlying current of fear that keeps us feeling just a little unsettled. He might not be as well known as fellow Scottish crime novelists Ian Rankin or Val McDermid, but Stuart MacBride is in every way as talented a writer.