Cold Granite: The very first book in the gripping No.1 bestselling crime thriller detective series! (Logan McRae, Book 1)

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. EXCERPT I was pissing down outside. The rain battered against the blue plastic SO C tent's walls and roof, clattering in the confined space, fighting against the constant drone of the portable generators, making conversation impossible. Not that anyone was feeling particularly chatty at a quarter past midnight on a Monday morning. Not with David Reid lying there. On the freezing ground. At one end of the lopsided tent a four foot stretch of ditch was cordoned off with blue police tape. Dark, greasy water glinted in the spotlights. The rest of the tent was taken up by riverbank, the winter-yellow grass beaten flat and muddy underfoot. It was crowded in here. There were four constables from Aberdeen's identification Bureau, wearing white paper boiler suits: two covering everything with fingerprint powder and sticky tape; one taking photographs; and the fourth videoing the crime scene for posterity. Add to that one decidedly green-looking PC, the duty doctor, a detective sergeant who'd seen better days, and the guest of honour. Little David Brookline Reid. Three months short of his fourth birthday. They'd had to drag him out of the cold, water-filled ditch before death could be declared. Not that there was any doubt about it. The poor little sod had been dead for a long time. He was lying on his back on a square of blue plastic, exposed for all the world to see, an X-Men T-shirt pulled up around his shoulders. He wasn't wearing anything else. The camera flashed again, burning away all detail and colour, leaving an imprint on the retina that refused to go away. Standing in the corner Detective Sergeant Logan McRae closed his eyes and tried to think what he was going to tell little David Reid's mother. Her son had been missing for three months. Three months of not knowing. Three months of hoping her child would turn up safe and sound. While all the time he'd been lying dead in a ditch. Logan ran a hand over his tired face, feeling the stubble scritch beneath his fingers. Christ, he could kill for a cigarette. He wasn't even supposed to be here! He pulled out his watch and groaned, his breath coming out in a plume of white fog. Fourteen hours since he'd reported for duty yesterday morning. So much for easing back into the swing of things. A frigid gust of wind whipped into the tent, and Logan looked up to see a sodden figure hurry in out of the rain. The pathologist had arrived. Dr Isobel MacAlister: thirty-three, bobbed hair, brunette, five foot four. Makes little mewing noises when the inside of her thigh is nibbled. She was dressed immaculately in a fitted grey trouser suit and black overcoat, the effect only slightly spoiled by a huge pair of Wellington boots flapping about up to her knees. She cast a professional glance around the crowded tent, freezing when her eyes locked onto Logan. An uncertain smile flickered onto her face before sliding away. Not surprising considering how much of a state he must look. Unshaven, bags under the eyes, dark brown hair which was wild, unkempt and frizzy from the rain. Isobel opened her mouth and closed it again. Rain hammered on the tent's roof, the camera clacked and whined as the flash came back up to speed, the generators growled. But the silence was deafening. It was the duty doctor who broke the spell. 'Aw shite!' He stood on one leg, shaking a waterlogged shoe. Isobel put on her professional face. 'Has death been declared?' she asked, shouting to be heard over the din. Logan sighed. The moment had passed. The duty doctor stifled a yawn and pointed at the small, bloated corpse in the middle of the tent. 'Aye, he's dead all right.' He stuffed his hands deep in his pockets and gave a loud sniff. 'If y'want my opinion: he's been dead for a good wee whilie. Least two months.' Isobel nodded and placed her medical bag on the groundxadsheet next to the body. 'You're probably right,' she said, squatxadting down and peering at the dead child. The doctor rocked back and forth for a while, squelching in the mud, as Isobel snapped on a pair of latex gloves and started unpacking her instruments. 'Aye, well,' he said, 'give us a shout if you need anything, OK?' Isobel promised she would and the duty doctor gave a small bow and excused himself, squeezing out past Logan into the rain-soaked night. Logan looked down on the top of Isobel's head, thinking of all the things he'd planned to say the first time he saw her again. To make it all right again. To fix what fell apart the day Angus Robertson got sent down for thirty to life. But whenever Logan pictured this moment there wasn't a murdered three-year-old lying on the ground between them. It kind of put a damper on things. So instead he said, 'Can you give me a time of death?' She looked up from the decaying body and blushed slightly. 'Doc Wilson wasn't far off,' she said, not meeting his eyes. 'Two, maybe three months. I'll know better when I do the post mortem. You got an ID?’ 'David Reid. He's three.' Logan sighed. 'Been on the Misper list since August.' 'Poor wee sod.' Isobel pulled a slim headset out of her bag, slipped it over her hair and checked that the microphone was working. She inserted a fresh tape into her dictaphone and began her examination of little David Reid. Copyright 2005 by Stuart MacBride --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. Relentless rain reflects the tormented mood that permeates MacBride's impressive debut set in Aberdeen, Scotland. Det. Sgt. Logan MacRae, back from a lengthy convalescence caused by a crazed suspect's knife attack, is plunged straightaway into the investigation of a brutally murdered child. To make matters worse, the victim's family learns of the death from a reporter before the police have a chance to inform them. Angered and embarrassed by the press leak, Logan, aided by WPC Jackie Watson, vows to expose the source within the precinct. Enter Colin Miller, flashy journalist, who befriends Logan, causing suspicious stares from Logan's superiors. More children go missing, and soon the populace of Aberdeen is screaming for blood. Further inciting the rabble, a notorious defense attorney earns acquittal for a habitual child molester. As a result, a hapless, ruined scholar–turned–street sweeper becomes a scapegoat for the chilling fear that grips the community. Logan must eliminate the distractions caused by the sensational publicity and summon his barely restored strength to anticipate the killer's next move. MacBride allows his characters their humanity, while weaving intriguing subplots in this edge-of-your-seat page-turner. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. IN A CITY BY THE SEAAfter a long recuperation from a stab wound, Detective Sergeant Logan McRae's first night back on duty in Aberdeen, Scotland, takes him to a crime scene where the body of a missing boy has been found on a riverbank. To the horror of even the most experienced cops on the job, all the details point to a ritualistic murder--a serial killer. Then twenty-four hours later, another child goes missing. A COP HAS RISEN FROM THE DEADThe case's latest developments keep appearing as the next day's headlines, leading the department to believe one of their own is leaking information. Logan is keen to catch the mole as well as the killer, but even with Police Constable Jackie Watson, assigned to help "ease" him back into the job, it seems impossible. TO ENTER A NEW HELL From the violent world of organized crime to the dark fantasies of a murderer and the naughty games cops play to stay sane, Logan is moving through the Scottish winter in search of a few hard facts. And as the rain turns to snow, as new outrages are discovered, he begins to get his answers: one victim, one deception, and one killer at a time... "Solid no sooner is one crime solved than another comes up to keep you turning the pages."--"Rocky Mountain News" "MacBride is starting at the very top with his first book, which approaches the level of Michael Connelly's best work MacBride's writing is so good here that it's hard to believe it's not a sign of staying power."--"Flint"" Journal" --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. STUART MCBRIDE lives with his wife in Aberdeen, Scotland. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From the Inside Flap Over nine months ago DS Logan McRae was stabbed in the abdomen by a murder suspect. Now, after a long recuperation, he's finally back on the job in Aberdeen, Scotland. His first day on duty is a long one--the body of a three-year-old boy is found on a riverbank more than three months after he was reported missing. To the horror of even the most experienced cops on the job, all the details from the crime scene and the autopsy point to a ritualistic, sadistic murder--a serial killer. And in fact, their worst suspicions are confirmed when it's not even twenty-four hours before the next child goes missing. Adding pressure to the investigation, the department seems to have a leak--the case's latest news keeps appearing as the next day's headlines. Logan is keen to catch the mole as well as the killer, but it seems impossible. All in all, it's a heavy load for a detective still trying to get reacquainted to the back-breakingly long rainy days and the bleak rainy nights in Aberdeen CID.In the tradition of bestselling writers from the United Kingdom like Ian Rankin and Peter Robinson comes this razor-sharp, remarkable debut. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. Praise for Cold Granite: ‘Ferocious and funny, this is Tartan Noir at its best’ Val McDermid ‘A riveting and gruesome debut’ Telegraph ‘A gripping debut’ Mirror Praise for Stuart MacBride: ‘Fierce, unflinching and shot through with the blackest of humour; this is crime fiction of the highest order’ Mark Billingham ‘MacBride is a damned fine writer – no one does dark and gritty like him’ Peter James --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From Booklist *Starred Review* One year after being stabbed in the line of duty, Scottish Detective Sergeant Logan McRae returns to his Aberdeen beat to tackle a case that makes even his most callous colleagues cringe: the strangling and mutilation of a four-year-old boy. Fears of a pedophile serial killer are confirmed when more children turn up missing and, then, dead. To make matters worse, someone is leaking privileged police information to a member of the press. DS McRae digs in his heels, doing his best to ignore the dirty looks of ex-girlfriend Isobel, the forensic pathologist on the case. MacBride's impressive first outing has plenty of atmosphere, subversive humor, and a sinuous plot reminiscent of fellow countryman Ian Rankin. Among his memorable characters: an overeducated schizophrenic with a secret cache of roadkill and a grumpy detective inspector forever gnawing on fruit pastilles. Dubbed "Granite City" for its stark, stone edifices, Aberdeen is a place of social misfits and surly moods, where gunmetal gray clouds dump endless buckets of icy rain. "Everyone looked murderous and inbred," writes MacBride. "The whole city looked like a casting call for Deliverance." Newcomers to the police procedural, take note: MacBride's deft debut is more macabre than most. Allison Block Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. Read more