MacBride, Stuart – DYING LIGHT

[LJ Roberts]

DYING LIGHT (Police Procedural-Scotland-Cont) – G+ MacBride, Stuart – 2nd in series
Harper Collins, 2006- UK Hardcover

DS Logan McRae was once thought to be a golden boy but, because of a botched raid, is now is on the “Screwed-Up Squad.” Someone screwed shut the door and windows of a squat and burned to death the six people inside. There are also prostitutes being brutally murdered. McRae is determined to solve the crimes and recover his status on the force.

I rated MacBride’s first book as Very Good, but didn’t feel this was quite up to the same level. There seemed to be a strong assumption that readers would have read the first book and, therefore, knew the characters and their history, so individual character development in this book was very thin. I did feel the characters where realistic although not particularly likable. But MacBride’s writing is very strong. It is graphically brutal balanced with the type of humor I, again, felt realistic to the characters and situations. I do like MacBride’s use dialogue and ability to create sense of place. I shall definitely give MacBride another try.