Cold Granite (Logan McRae, Book 1) - Softcover

MacBride, Stuart

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007193149 ISBN 13: 9780007193141

Publisher: Harper, 2005

Synopsis

Ian Rankin and Michael Marshall are set to have their status challenged by debut Scottish author Stuart MacBride, an original and powerful new voice in thriller writing. It's DS Logan McRae's first day back on the job after a year off on the sick, and it couldn't get much worse. Four-year-old David Reid's body is discovered in a ditch, strangled, mutilated and a long time dead. There's a killer stalking the Granite City and the local media are baying for blood. If that wasn't enough, Logan also has to contend with a new boss, DI Insch, who doesn't suffer fools gladly and thinks everyone's a fool, and his own ex-girlfriend, the beautiful but chilly Isobel MacAlister, who also happens to be the chief pathologist. The only good news is WPC 'Ball Breaker' Watson, Logan's new guardian angel. The dead are piling up in the morgue almost as fast as the snow on the streets, and Logan knows time is running out. More children are going missing. More are going to die. If Logan isn't careful, he's going to end up joining them. Set in Aberdeen, where the rainy season lasts all year, criminal gangs vie for supremacy on the streets and the oil industry brings an influx of wealth and vice, this is a gritty, powerful and page-turning debut thriller by a writer with a wonderfully observant eye and a characteristically Scottish sense of gallows humour.

About this title

From the Back Cover

IN A CITY BY THE SEA
After a long recuperation from a stab wound, Detective Sergeant Logan McRae's first night back on duty in Aberdeen, Scotland, takes him to a crime scene where the body of a missing boy has been found on a riverbank. To the horror of even the most experienced cops on the job, all the details point to a ritualistic murder―a serial killer. Then twenty-four hours later, another child goes missing.

A COP HAS RISEN FROM THE DEAD
The case's latest developments keep appearing as the next day's headlines, leading the department to believe one of their own is leaking information. Logan is keen to catch the mole as well as the killer, but even with Police Constable Jackie Watson, assigned to help "ease" him back into the job, it seems impossible.

TO ENTER A NEW HELL
From the violent world of organized crime to the dark fantasies of a murderer and the naughty games cops play to stay sane, Logan is moving through the Scottish winter in search of a few hard facts. And as the rain turns to snow, as new outrages are discovered, he begins to get his answers: one victim, one deception, and one killer at a time...

"Solid...no sooner is one crime solved than another comes up to keep you turning the pages."
--Rocky Mountain News

"MacBride is starting at the very top with his first book, which approaches the level of Michael Connelly's best work...MacBride's writing is so good here that it's hard to believe it's not a sign of staying power."
--Flint Journal

From the Inside Flap

Over nine months ago DS Logan McRae was stabbed in the abdomen by a murder suspect. Now, after a long recuperation, he's finally back on the job in Aberdeen, Scotland. His first day on duty is a long one--the body of a three-year-old boy is found on a riverbank more than three months after he was reported missing. To the horror of even the most experienced cops on the job, all the details from the crime scene and the autopsy point to a ritualistic, sadistic murder--a serial killer. And in fact, their worst suspicions are confirmed when it's not even twenty-four hours before the next child goes missing.
Adding pressure to the investigation, the department seems to have a leak--the case's latest news keeps appearing as the next day's headlines. Logan is keen to catch the mole as well as the killer, but it seems impossible. All in all, it's a heavy load for a detective still trying to get reacquainted to the back-breakingly long rainy days and the bleak rainy nights in Aberdeen CID.
In the tradition of bestselling writers from the United Kingdom like Ian Rankin and Peter Robinson comes this razor-sharp, remarkable debut.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0007193149
• ISBN 13: 9780007193141
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 592