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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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. I am very familiar with Stuart MacBride’s writing and used to the mixture of interesting characters, twisty plots and zany dialogue so I was really looking forward to his latest offering, This was a novel that the more I read the more I enjoyed it. The characters grew as the story developed and became a very enjoyable read.

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. Now onto my biggest issue – DI Montgomery-Porter. My god, that woman is absolutely insufferable. She’s ratty, defensive, and just a good old-fashioned bitch. I really felt for DC Reekie, not only did he have to manage the problems that the case brought but having to constantly apologise for his DI’s unacceptable behaviour. I mean, I get that the constant problems that kept cropping up is infuriating but my god the woman took it out on everyone. I found myself muttering to my kindle “stop yelling at everyone.” It goes without saying that there were many possible culprits and with hindsight I realised I should have guessed who the murderer was. In fact I was completely surprised. The ending is very exciting.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.

Our two main stars are Detective Constable Edward Reekie and his boss, Detective Inspector Victoria Mongomery-Porter, the opening chapter is a scene on a freezing day somewhere in the snowy woods in Scotland. It would appear that DC Edward Reekie is being buried in a shallow grave in the cold ground and that grave is being dug by none other than DI Victoria aka Bigtoria Montgomery-Porter….and that my dear followers, is the absurd setting that starts The Dead Of Winter. 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'.

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I, on the other hand, am Detective Constable Edward Reekie. And I guess you could say I’m having a very bad day.

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. You’d think that things wouldn’t have changed all that much for writers. Yes, we can’t get out to do events at festivals and libraries and bookshops anymore, but we’re mostly homebodies anyway, so what is there to whinge about? This is just business-as-usual. Only it really hasn’t been. This is a real gem of a novel, and in my opinion, Stuart Macbride’s best for many years, if you like gritty, dark, Scottish crime fiction with a dose of really dark humor thrown in then you need to rush down to the bookshop, and buy The Dead Of Winter, you won’t be disappointed.Despite this, I’m not put off the author’s books and I’m hopeful he’ll return to his usual form soon.

I’m a big fan of the Logan McRae series by Stuart MacBride and was looking forward to reading a copy of his latest standalone novel, The Dead of Winter. The book is released on 16th February. Some reviewers have complained that MacBride is only recycling his Logan McRae series by changing the character names. Yes, Reekie is rather a close match for McRae, but Bigtoria is not at all like McRae’s nemesis DI Roberta Steele—other than the fact that both are high-ranking female officers. There is the comedy, true, which comes mainly at the expense of placing Reekie in untenable situations. And this is primarily why I can only give THE DEAD OF WINTER four stars. I prefer the edgy directions that MacBride has been exploring in his latest novels, which are not just comedy cop sagas. They provide comedy plus social commentary. The social commentary is missing here. Sorry – where are my manners? The lady doing the digging is one Detective Inspector Victoria Elizabeth Montgomery-Porter, North East Division. Some people call her ‘Bigtoria’, but never to her face. I have enjoyed a number of Stuart MacBride's books before; I enjoy his writing style, his dark sense of humour, twisty plots and excellent characters - The Dead of Winter is no different and I loved it.

Customer reviews

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. The premise is interesting - although ludicrous - it falls down through having paper thin characters trying to prop up the weight of what becomes an increasingly silly plot. 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. However, the inclusion of this second voice in the narration at all felt very odd, and unnecessary. I listen to lots of books with two or more narrators and enjoy them, but because this second person narrated so little of the book, it just felt distracting.