The characters constantly say “fudging” which was another thing that I found irritating. I would have expected police officers to have a more varied vocabulary.

Well ... this book certainly opens up in an unexpected manner. The prologue really is one of those killer (every pun intended) moments that draws me into a story, whether I like it or not. And I really did like it. Intriguing, chilling, quite literally for the characters, and with the kind of ending which catches you unawares and, in my case, made me absolutely want to know just what in the hell is going on. It's also the kind of prologue that Stuart MacBride is a master in, creating an overwhelming sense of suspicion from the start, particularly when it comes to one of the key characters. But as to their true nature, and the meaning of that opening scene - well the only way I was going to find out was to read the rest of the book, something that proved to be a rather unexpected, but enjoyable, experience. Although this is much better than his last book (No Less the Devil), it again falls far short of his previous many books. 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.

Retailers:

You cannot say the Stuart MacBride writes ‘easy to read’ thrillers. I’m happy with that because I like to be challenged by a good story, with an intricate plot and surprising characters. 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. 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. 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. A duvet of white smothers the forest clearing, snow robbing the shapes and colour from everything, leaving only the frozen ghosts of what lies buried beneath.

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. Dave swapped his police dreams for a wheelchair, and I swapped mine for a warrant card. Cos that’s what you do when your dad’s a cop, and his dad before him, and his dad before that. DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Bantam Press via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Dead of Winter by Stuart MacBride for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions. It’s perhaps unfair to compare this to the McRae series but unfortunately I became very bored with the story. The characters weren’t strong enough to drive the story and in some ways they felt like really diluted, much less funny, versions of McRae and Steel. 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.It’s an old man, sounding every bit as cold and sharp as Bigtoria, but where her accent is posh-girl Scottish, his is gravelly Glaswegian. Redolent with tenements, whisky, and putting the boot in. ‘Is it done?’