A Dark So Deadly by Stuart MacBride
Rating ***** 5/5

A first class read by the exceptIonally talented, Stuart MacBride. A Dark So Deadly is a police thriller set in Scotland incorporating a number of strong, well rounded, believable characters. Some draw at the heart strings, others, well I wouldn't want to be in a 100 mile radius of them. Callum, the put upon policeman with a heart. Mother, her put-me-downs and an endless bag of jelly babies.
One minute the reader is enjoying the humour and wit interspersed throughout the novel and the next, drawn into the darkest despair of the fight to survive.
I won't elaborate on the plots in the novel as I think the reader needs to experience the journey themselves. Readers of Stuart MacBride need no introduction to his books, new readers will become hooked through this standalone novel.
Be warned of my predicament though, couldn't wait to find out who, what and why but didn't want it to end. Hopefully we will hear more about Callum and O Division.
I was given a copy of A Dark So Deadly by NetGalley for an honest and unbiased review, which I have written. Thank you NetGalley and Stuart MacBride.

This book was just ok in my opinion. Although I enjoyed and became invested in the characters I felt it was a bit too long. I enjoyed the banter between the characters and the background on the main character, Callum.

Being a fan of the Logan Macrae series, I was disappointed in this stand alone. After being about 1/3 into the book, I gave up.
It felt hectic and overblown to me and even though the main character was appealing, no one else, to my mind, was in the least bit likeable. As for the crimes! My goodness, I felt like I was in a cheaply made B movie, it was too out there.
The Logan Macrae books (especially the early ones) are terrific and I hope we'll see more of those in the future.
Thank you Netgalley and Harper Collins for the eARC.

This latest book from Stuart MacBride, an author I always enjoy reading, has plenty of action and enough gory detail to satisfy even the most avid reader of the genre. A serial killer is mummifying his victims and it falls to DC Callum MacGregor and his new partner Rosalind Franklin to discover his identity and put a stop to his killing spree. They are part of a band of misfits, policemen and women who have screwed up in other areas and been sent to a dead-end team as a punishment. However, as in all the best stories, the team works together and becomes better than the sum of its parts. The characters are well drawn and there are some nice plot revelations, and until three quarters of the way through this was going to get a definite 5 stars from me as I couldn't put it down. However, I found the last quarter a bit of a step too far. I don't want to say more as it might spoil the plot - and this is a book I would definitely recommend as a good read - but the resolution of some of the storylines just felt a little forced, as if the author was trying to be too clever. However, a good four stars and I will definitely be looking out for MacBride's next offering.

This well written book is based round a very extreme case of serial killing with multiple threads which are drawn together cleverly as the narrative progresses. The key characters in the book are well crafted and the dialogue is reflective of the area and often very amusing. A good read that would lend itself to TV or film given the strength of the characters.

Scotland Police has a long proud history of competent officers working in concert to solve crimes and keep the city and countryside safe. Then there is the Misfit Mob, a collection of officers that for various reasons have been shunted to the side and work on nonessential cases. There is Detective Constable Callum MacGregor who had a promising career until his girlfriend messed up a crime scene and he took the blame for her, leaving most people sure he was a bribe taker. DC Rosalind Franklin is a touchy feminist who is quick to believe that most men don't give her credit and only want her around for her body. DC John Watt is a curmudgeon who no one wants to work with. Detective Sargent Dotty Hodgkin is in the unit as she now rides a wheelchair after a work-related accident. DS Andrew MacAdams is dying of cancer but hiding the truth from his family and doctors. Finally, DCI Malcomson, or 'Mother', has been shunted to the group to recuperate from her own health issues.

Callum is called to a nuisance case. Someone has found something strange at the dump. When he arrives, it turns out to be a body, but one that is mummified. He is put on the job of calling all the local museums and science organizations to see if it is theirs. But the autopsy shows that the corpse is recent and soon other mummies start showing up; bodies that have been brined and then smoked like fish. The Misfit Mob retains the case as all the others are overloaded, although no one expects much from them.

Concurrently, there are strange incidents regarding Callum's own past. He was deserted at five years old, his mother, father and twin brother disappearing at a rest stop on the way home from a family vacation. He grew up in a series of care homes, each more devious and cruel than the next. His family's case has never been solved and as best he can tell, not given very high priority or worked on very hard. There seems to be some movement to cracking the shell of neglect and inattention the case received as it gets linked to a more current case. Can Callum discover the truth about his past as he works on the murder case?

Stuart MacBride is one of the most famous mystery writers working today. His prime character is DC Logan McRae and he has an extensive series of books about Logan, each a success. This book starts a new series, or at least readers can hope it does. These characters sing and meld into a hopelessly inept group that somehow manages to do everything right. The breezy style and 'just get on with it' mantra is exhilarating. The reader is carried along with twists and turns where least expected. This book is recommended for mystery readers.

A truly dark Tartan Noir. Not one that I particularly enjoyed -'the credible was stretched way beyond incredible with so many coincidences not to mention beatings that would kill or maim rather than see the victim bounce back to duty. The language is very strong.
It's set in the fictional town of Oldcastle where Police Scotland have dumped those officers who are connected to a whiff of scandal they are expected to deal,with the mundane to atone for their discretions. Up pop some mummified remains and they are set for something rather more juicy.
The central character PC Callum MacGregor is quite likeable, terribly flawed. The usual, been in care but to top this his parents and brother went missing 25 years ago never to be found. They of course reappear in this tale only the brother alive. There are lots of twists and turns to keep your attention and it is quite long.
The interaction between the characters is quite good, more believable than the plot.

A slow burn to begin with...
Loads of twists and turns once it gets going and the biggest surprise ending!
Great read!

Loved this book and I could not put it down until the end. will definitely read more.

Stuart MacBride delivers once again - a neatly driven plot with all the cracking characters and dialogue you expect if you have read his backlist. And if you haven't then this is a great book to read to get to know his work! Thoroughly recommended!

I tried to persevere with this novel but did not like the style of writing . Sorry gave up half way through.

I did really try to like this book but I found the writing style not to my taste. The story, as far as I got, was fine it was just the glib, colloquial way it was constructed I found distracting from the content - sorry.

Callum MacGregor's life is a mess. He has been dumped in the "misfit mob" where Police Scotland dumps the officers it can't get rid of - and it's a motley crew - and he and his pregnant gf are always living on the last dime and there's not much to indicate that things are going to change any time soon.

But then he is tasked with finding the place of origin of a mummy found at a local tip and things suddenly change in the department. More dead bodies turn up and the misfit mob has to find a bizarre killer.

The writing is very good, but I felt that the storyline could do with a stricter edit. There were some very easy solutions towards the end where certain characters were probably better just left out. The book has 609 pages, so there would still be enough meat on the storyline without 1 or 2 of the people involved - especially as they were never real red herrings if that was what they were meant as.

I also thought that the misfit mob was too over the top to not start grating after a while and the killer too bizarre in certain instances. Sometimes less is more.

Overall an entertaining read, but I think it's fine that it's a stand alone and not the start to a new series

Love Stuart McBride his books are always excellent and this one was brilliant. Loved the character of Callum, I thought he was so well rounded and I really hope we get more from Callum. The misfit mob are Mother, McAdams, Watt, Dotty, Franklin and Callum. I loved Dotty she was so funny and caring. Mother was brilliant, I really liked her.
I did not see that ending coming, I had to reread the page as I kept saying no way. This book was utterly brilliant, just like every book Stuart has written. Now the countdown is on for the next one.

I wanted to like this book and its rather quirky characters, but it was not to be. The plot was over-complicated and unlikely and I disliked the repetitive use of radio commentary in the background. And why all the capitalisations and overuse of AARGH! - with varying number of A's ? Not a book I would recommend.

I really enjoyed this book that kept me guessing. I have to admit that I thought I had it all figured out only to be hit with two surprises. I hope for more of these books about Callum, Mother and the other 'misfits'. Great characters and a lovely, twisting plot.

This book did not turn out how I expected!! The description of the book gave the impression that the book was going to be a dark read but in actual fact it was quite an easy read and a really good story. This book in actual fact was right up my street. DC Callum McGregor's life is bad you can see why he became a cop..... to help people like himself. The book made me LOL aloud at parts and towards the end I was on the edge of my seat with my hand on my face shouting 'oh no' to my partner.

I loved all of the characters in the book, each one was unique and brought something different to the story. I did not see the ending coming at all and what a twist!!! I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a police, crime, easy read fan.

Misfit Mob RULES!

I love the Logan books, and have slogged my way through the 1st Ash Henderson book and was prepared for a letdown, but it's Stuart MacBride...what can it hurt?

Loved these characters and story. Hope he keeps them coming!

Sheesh! Where to start here with this bit-of-everything book? This is my first reading of a Stuart MacBride book, a stand alone that was different and entertaining.

it starts with the discovery of a mummy on a refuse dump. The first assumption is that it has been stolen by pranksters from some local museum. DC Callum MacGregor is given the task of finding out where it came from and returning it safely home. This is not exactly riveting police work but nothing more than he expects after disciplinary proceedings against him.

When more mummies turn up and their origin is discovered to be more sinister (and recent) the real chase is on to find a modern-day serial killer.

This is a real twisty-turny story where so many characters are not what they seem. Amidst the investigation Callum must deal with his own tragic past, lost family members, his present relationship and the disdain of fellow workers and all the time the bodies are piling up.

What made this book really stand out for me though was the gallows humour thrown in amongst some truly gruesome details.

This is a larger-than-life police investigation that was a lot of fun to read and not to be taken too seriously, at least by me!

*Many thanks go to HarperCollins UK, Netgalley and the author for an Advanced Copy of this title *

This book totally surprised me. I struggled to get into it at first particularly keeping track of the different characters and different strands of the story. However, it picked up very quickly and kept me more than entertained with plenty of twists and turns. Halfway through, I actually thought that I'd figured out who the killer was but how wrong was I?!

Callum MacGregor and the rest of the Misfit Mob are extremely likeable characters and you are rooting for Callum all the way through to get some streak of good luck.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book but my only negative would be that I thought it was a little bit too long. It probably could have done with being about 200 pages shorter.

This is the first book that I have read by Stuart MacBride and I would definitely like to start reading the Logan McRae series.