P.J. Tracy

I've been told I don't write about women authors so here we have two for the price of one: PJ Tracy is actually a mother/daughter partnership and a jolly good one too.

Mother Patricia (P.J.) and daughter Traci Lambrecht have produced a set of crime novels which are way better than I'd have expected. Given they claim to have only some freelance writing and a little romantic fiction behind them, their writing is assured, their characters are good and their plotting is of a similarly high standard.

Robert Crais: Sunset Express Review

A woman bludgeoned to death, her body dumped on a rubbish tip. The weapon, a ball peen hammer, found outside the house she shared with husband Teddy. Husband's defence: she had been kidnapped. Husband's believability: zero.

However, Teddy has one advantage: he's worth about $150 million. That buys a lot of defence, beginning with superstar lawyer Jonathan Green and the funding of The Big Green Defense Machine - an army of lawyers, investigators and more to scrutinise every aspect of the case, to get Teddy the best justice money can buy.

Stuart MacBride: Dark Blood

Dark in the title and dark in mood as a convicted kidnapper/rapist is resettled in Aberdeen after serving his prison time. DS Logan McRae is one of the reluctant coppers assigned to keep the man safe. Little does he know that the pitchfork-waving mob isn't the only danger and that the criminal past of the bible-reading pervert will threaten the health of more than the one who deserves it.

As a sub-plot we have Edinburgh heavies moving in, crooked property developers (and Donald Trump, not crooked, of course, up yours lawyers), Logan's getting a bit out of his depth with Wee Hamish Mowat - and Hamish's preferred depth for those who annoy him is six feet under.

Alongside MacRae's usual broad canvas of Aberdeen rain and pain he shows several smaller, gloomier scenes, well-described to lend contrast to the work, and all the better for it.

The book stands alone but I'd recommend you read one or two of the earlier Logan McRae novels first.

Stuart MacBride: Flesh House

There's a mad butcher (literally) loose in Aberdeen and he's leaving bits of his victims in the food supply chain. Never before has mince 'n' tatties seemed so unappealing as DS Logan McRae and the usual cast of granite city grotesques try to catch the baddies before the unthinkable happens and a Scottish city has to resort to salad.

We meet again mountainous DI Insch, fighting his sweet addiction and heading for personal tragedy and pain. DI Steel, frizzier and more nicotine-stained than ever, thick DC Rennie and WPC Jackie Watson. Only two of them will hit Logan McRae in this story; his heartache comes from personal and professional losses.

Stuart MacBride discusses Flesh House:



If you've read any of the other Logan McRae books then you know what you're in for here -- a bunch of beautifully drawn heroes and villains manouevering like Pacman on PCP. Only this time the goodies turn bad and the baddies get worse.

Another excellent novel from Stuart MacBride: yet to produce anything that disappoints. Buy it as a christmas present for yourself, your mum won't like it.