I love the series, especially the audiobooks which are narrated by the author and add to the enjoyment. The main protagonis, Logan McRae, is sometimes painful to watch (read about), because he constantly gets himself into trouble, usually unnecessarily, and often seems totally inept. But somehow, he seems to win in the end. The whole group are basically a bunch of bungling idiots, but the humor does a good job of smoothing out the horrible crimes.

In this book, a man gets out of prison for sexually assaulting older men. He doesn't kill them, but I get the feeling some of them almost wish he had. But now that he's out, he says he has found God and regrets his evil ways; he just wants to live in his old family home in peace. Unfortunately for him, there seems to be a lot of others who have their own feelings about this, such as the town's citizens and former victims. So McRae and his team are stuck with babysitting him, protecting him, and other fun and games. There are some nice twists and turns, and a surprise ending that leaves the story somewhat incomplete. ( )

Great Fun, I listed to the Audio Book read by the author and that made it more entertaining ( )

Edinburgh is as bleak as always, and so is the overall mood. But unlike some of the earlier novels, this one is relatively free from torture and other horrors. However,... there is still plots within plots within plots. DI Steel is still annoying and mad as a hatter with the world in general and everyone in it. I wish McBride would tone her down a bit. Logan makes odd choices which get him into trouble with his superiors, who themselves don't make a very professional impression. I hope the Scottish police are not actually like this. In spite of the police blunders and DI Steel...the entire series is curiously addictive. ( )

Still not quite a five-star read, but getting better. I have to say, I'm alternating between leaving this as a four-star and downgrading it, because there are some problems with the narrative as a whole. I'll start with that.

First, there's the problem with Samantha, Logan's girlfriend of the last couple novels. She's pointless. She has potential but she's hardly ever in the story (perhaps because she lives with Logan and he's never ever at home, another problem I'll get to presently). At first it seemed as though Logan's drinking problem, an interesting and dark holdover from the last novel, was going to be a central focus, and Sam would serve as the home front battle there. However, midway through the story Logan is told to "try" not drinking for a week (by his psychologist, on the phone), and see how it goes. There's some more tension between the two (Sam and Logan), then voila! Missing girlfriend.

Next, there's the ever-present failure of Logan to progress past detective sergeant. There is a moment at the beginning of the novel where you think it's happened: he's been promoted. But no. Still, though no one else at Grampian seems capable of solving crimes, or at least not as intuitively as Logan (this isn't a complaint about the series, just a facet of the genre), he manages to commit a variety of sins that prevent him from being promoted. Granted, there are some cock-ups, but no worse than what a DS does at the end of the novel, and that ends in the DS's demotion. I don't mind this bit as much, as I've really gotten to enjoy the relationship Logan has with the other DSs, especially DS Steele--she's become a favorite of mine, and they have an undeniable chemistry. The failure to promote works for the dynamics of the stories, but will it continue to work for the verisimilitude of the character of Logan McRae?

Complaints aside (and I've downgraded to three-stars), this is a solid entry and a good read. It took me a bit longer because I've been more tired lately at night, but that's no comment on the book itself. MacBride is getting quite good at interweaving multiple crimes, many of which are unrelated in the details but feed connections in Logan's brain, giving the reader a sense of what it must be like to be a policeman covering many crimes at once, unlike most American crime shows.

With the drinking problem (solved?), the girlfriend problems, even the POS Fiat car problems, Logan is continuing to become more and more like Rebus, the standard bearer for Tartan Noir cop/heroes, but he just doesn't make it, not this go-round. Of course, now he's a father (like Rebus) who likely won't be very involved in his child's life (again, like Rebus). Part of me wonders if this is good or bad. I don't want another Rebus necessarily, I can always read the other books again. But I'd like to see these books reach the depth that's absolutely there, just unexplored.. ( )

This is the 2nd Detective Sergeant Logan Macrae novel I have read.

A pervert who likes to rape older men is released and transferred to Aberdeen from Newcastle. The local people and Cops are happy about Richard Knox settling in the Granite city.
Soon he is discovered and moved he escapes after drugging his handlers. A Policeman from Newcastle was also looking after him DSI Greame Danby also goes missing.
Some Geordie heavies are hot on Knox's tail as they know he has squirreled money away from his previous employer.

There are also a few other cases for Macrae and his colleagues to solve. Namely the murder of a smalltime thief that was stealing from a building site, a teenager passing counterfeit notes,A Grandad who is rubbing Jewellers. His Superior officers have it in for him though and he is facing some disciplinary issues.

Knox had done a deal with DCI Danby to split the money, Danby nearly gets away with it and plans his escape to New Zealand. Danby gets grabbed by the Baddies, Knox gets away.

This is a good well researched book that flows well and has good supporting characters. ( )