ShaunOK 'Book Addict'

Logan McRae is a fantastic creation and everything you could want from a fictional police officer, someone who doesn't always play by the rules as it makes for a more interesting and more enjoyable read. Mark Billingham's Tom Thorne remains my favourite fictional detective but DS McRae is a very close second. However it has been over two years since I read a MacBride novel and after reading this 500+ page book over the last few hours I am kicking myself for having left it too long. I did actually start Blind Eye a while back but gave up. I think the amount of pages in these books is what puts me off.

The storyline of this novel didn't really 'grip' me like the other books but it was interesting and kept me turning the pages wanting to find out more. However the best things about these books for me is Logan McRae and that's my favourite thing about series crime fiction, catching up with a character who feels real, and who you feel like you know. Even the scenes where McRae is just in his flat are fantastic - just like in Billingham's novels where Thorne could be doing something pretty mundane but you still enjoy reading about it. I love MacBride's McRae books because they have the right amount of murder, mystery and most importantly humour. DI Steele is an absolutely fantastic character and her and McRae's scenes are always the highlight of the books. I do miss DI Insch as well (and his endless supply of sweets!).

I think this was a strong novel and I enjoyed catching up with Logan again and can't wait to get started with the next book (just as soon as my reservation is ready at the library!). I'm kicking myself for not having read a MacBride book for over two years but it just means I can now read the rest of the books in the series without waiting a year in between! As I said though the only negative is it does feel like these books could be a bit shorter (i.e. a hundred pages shorter) but not at the expense of the comedy scenes with Steele or the 'normal' scenes with McRae so if an extra hundred pages means keeping them in then that's fine.