Scottish book of the week 9/10

The Blood Road

Stuart MacBride, HarperCollins, £16.99 Logan McRae’s personal history is hardly squeaky clean but now he works for Professional Standards he’s policing his fellow officers.

When Detective Inspector Bell turns up stabbed to death in the driver’s seat of a crashed car it’s a shock to everyone – because Bell died two years ago and they buried him. Or they thought they did.

As an investigation is launched into Bell’s death, Logan digs into his past. Where has he been all this time? Why did he disappear? And what’s so important that he felt the need to come back from the dead?

But the deeper Logan digs, the more bones he uncovers – and there are people out there who’ll kill to keep those skeletons buried. If Logan can’t stop them, DI Bell won’t be the only one to die...

Stuart MacBride is a bestselling author but I must confess this was the first time I had read one of his books. I was gripped from the atmospheric outset of the story – the latest Logan McRae novel – when a body is found on a drab, drizzly day. With believable characters, a cracking storyline, full of the statutory twists and turns, and natural dialogue, I raced through this to discover why some things just won’t stay buried.

I heartily recommend it to all thriller-genre fans. I’ll be reading more of his books. Review by Caroline Lindsay.