So I’m a huge Stuart MacBride Fan. I’ve read all the Logan books. Enjoyed them all. I didn’t even mind the last standalone which was pretty wild. So I knew what to expect. I was excited so why do I feel so disappointed?

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. About three years ago I discovered Stuart MacBride’s Logan McRae novels, and devoured the entire 12-novel series within a year. Since then, I’ve read his Ash Henderson series and several standalone books. MacBride has become one of my favourite authors.I always find MacBride's prose to be almost poetic in parts and his weather descriptions imbued the weather with its own unique character. Yes, it’s probably a lot bonkers but it’s also a highly entertaining, mad caper which I enjoy from start to finish. I read THE DEAD OF WINTER in two days, but it has taken me four weeks to write a review. The problem was not the rating. I knew as soon as I’d finished that I would give it four stars. It wasn’t as good as his very best, but it was a solid four-star 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.

The weather's closing in, tensions are mounting, and time's running out - something nasty has come to Glenfarach, and Edward is standing right in its way... Barely a chapter into this book and I was hooked with a brilliantly concived twist that I wasn't expecting and, the writing just got better from there on in. 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. What should have been a straight forward assignment for Detective Constable Edward Reekie turned out to be far more. His task was to collect a dying prisoner from HMP Grampian and deliver him to Glenfarach to live out his last remaining days in peace. Right from the very beginning Stuart MacBride yanks you into the intriguing storyline and keeps you gripped in the icy hands of a tense, fast paced and unpredictable plot. It’s a very clever combination of excellent humour (I laugh out loud, titter and snort my way through the blood and gore!) and a darkly enigmatic puzzling mystery with an investigation that seems hindered at every turn.There are a few plot twists, although I guessed who the murderer was very early in the tale. Other revelations were somewhat of a surprise, but were not completely startling. Most of the readability comes from the dilemmas that Reekie lands in. He is continually cold, miserable, and wet. (There are 285 references to “snow” in THE DEAD OF WINTER, 62 references to “cold”, and numerous mentions of related concepts such as “freezing”, “wet”, “shiver”, etc.) 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. 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. Despite this, I’m not put off the author’s books and I’m hopeful he’ll return to his usual form soon. Full of dark humour, violence, gore and unsavoury characters along with a fast paced plot full of twists and turns, this was a book I really enjoyed. There are many laugh-out-loud moments, moments that make you wince and several "no way" moments that had me swiping my screen at a great rate of knots desperate to find out how it was all going to end but also not wanting it to.

It's bad enough that everyone else is huddled at home during this blizzardy weather. But policeman don't have that luxury and DC Edward Reekie is on the job. He's just gotten a new boss, DI Victoria Montgomery-Porter and he's not sure how that will work out. His current assignment is to take a dying prisoner to a place where he can live his last few months. 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. Now I am a huge fan of Stuart MacBride, and absolutely adore his Logan MacRae novels, however in recent years Stuart has been writing more standalone novels, and The Dead Of Winter is one.

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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. I pushed through the story, but had it not been an advanced reader’s copy I’d have likely DNF’d it. The prologue was intriguing, and I was genuinely interested in seeing where the story would lead me. I am a complete aficionado when it comes to Scottish crime. I really enjoy reading about places I’ve seen and travelled to, that’s why I thought MacBride’s work would’ve been a good punt – I used to live in Aberdeen and I had my second child there, and although I cannot fault his picture setting of the location I just couldn’t find myself caring about the characters – something that is an absolute must for me to be able to enjoy a story.

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.”

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This is one creepy story. In fact all of Stuart MacBride’s stories are creepy. Even the titles are creepy. Creepy and so compelling that you can’t put them down. You have to know the next horrible thing one horrible character is going to do to an equally horrible character. The well written plot always goes smoothly on and on and on, pushing you, pulling you, dragging you, rolling right over you. 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. 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. 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.