In parts entertaining but overall I was mightily relieved to reach the end of this very long and very average story chronicling the various misadventures of the hapless Callum, a young Scottish Detective Constable. At times amusing, at others boring, I'm not sure whether this is supposed to be a crime novel or a comedy. Not for me I'm afraid.

This is a gripping thriller. It is at times gruesome but also humorous, in itself quite a feat. The lead character Callum is extremely likable despite his sometimes haphazard air, not to mention his tendency to be beaten up at every turn. He is a great 'misfit' in the 'mob'. The plot is sometimes circuitous but the coup de grace is unexpected and the whole novel is expertly written in a great tongue-in-cheek but somehow serious way. As for the final page? Might there be a sequel for Callum?

An excellent book by Stewart McBride. I love his Logan McRae series and this has some similarities but is in a different setting in Scotland. Very dark, very funny, very well written, convincing and hard to put down.

The story follows a young detective in the Scottish police force called Callum MacGregor, who joined the police force to try and help people and protect those that need protecting having grown up in care himself. However the young detective still does not have an easy life and anything and everything goes wrong in this darkly comic story of hunting down a serial killer.
Callum was recently moved from another division to the misfit brigade in the police force because a crime scene was contaminated, although he is actually covering for his heavily pregnant girlfriend. The Misfit team always receive the poor end of the stick in terms of cases that is until several apparently mummified bodies turn up in the town tip. As more and more bodies and body parts are discovered the team work mostly against each other to hunt down the killer, before he strikes again.
I especially like the strong characters and really felt some empathy with poor Callum is totally down on his luck and being screwed over left, right and center.
This book is truly gritty and very graphic with some excellent dark humour that will have you spraying your coffee out of your nose at all the appropriate places! This book totally had me hooked, the humour is so me!
I had never read any of Stuart McBride's novels before and but I will be starting now on the famous Logan McRae series as if A Dark So Deadly is anything to go by they will be a fantastic read.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book for a review.

To say DC Callum McGregor's attempts to rise up the ranks have stalled is an understatement. Under investigation for messing up evidence at a crime scene, living in a cramped flat he can barely afford with his pregnant girlfriend, and now kicked sideways in the so-called "Misfit mob", a home for anyone out of favour, and dumping ground for the cases nobody wants. When an ancient mummy is found at the local tip, Callum is saddled with the task of tracking down which Museum it's come from. When he stumbles across links between this seemingly mundane case, and a spate of missing young men, he's determined to redeem himself, regardless of his little help some of his own colleagues seem willing to give him.

I'll start this one off by saying I can't remember the last time I laughed as much at a crime novel. That might be a strange thing to kick off with, but MacBride capture the gallows humour of day to day police life so perfectly, that I defy you to keep a straight face throughout. The dialogue is razor sharp, plotting perfectly paced, and it's packed with characters like Franklin, Mother and McAdams, that practically pop out from each page and bounce off each other in a way that really brings out the best and worst in each of them to a tee. Multiple side-plots keep your brain ticking over nicely, and I sincerely hope it's not the last time I get to visit with the Misfit Mob.

Meet the misfit mob, a team that nobody else in the force want. An odd group of detectives fighting to prove they can do the job stumbling over clues and each other. Great story, fun characters and a real who done it with a surprise at the end. I can't wait to read more from the misfit mob .

His books get better and better. I always think the one i've previously read can't be bettered and happily I'm proved wrong every time

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book ahead of general publication.
I have not been paid for this review.

I am a massive fan of this author and have read every one of his Logan McRae books to date. This publication sees a move away from he usual characters and hopefully is not going to be a stand alone publication.
The background to the book is abut a group of misfits police officers based in Scotland who are tasked with investigating a series of mummified bodies that start turning up. I liked the really strong characters that McBride created with liberal dashes of black humour. A thoroughly enjoyable read and one that I found hard to put down. Really wish I'd been on holiday when I stated on this book as it played havoc with my work and social life.

In short, if you're already a fan of this author, this book will not disappoint. If you haven't read him before a good place to start as a stand alone book.

More of the same please Mr McBride...

Well dyamm. I did a quick check on the other reviews to make sure I wasn't writing similar reviews. I am so screwed. But I promise I was dictating while I was reading on my handy dandy little phone. So it's just tempting to quote from them. Yeah, that's the ticket.
"You think you’re having a bad day? DC Callum McGregor is having a bad life. " Sandy, GR reviewer.
A very bad, very sad life.
"This is a standalone darkly comic novel from the prolific author Stuart MacBride ...." Paromjit, GR reviewer.
I know, hard to believe those two review lines can be talking about the same book, but MacBride manages it with great skill.
After being transferred to a crew of other misfits because he covered for his pregnant girlfriend who screwed up a crime scene, McGregor hopes his life will start to improve. Not so fast there, buster. There is terrible verbal abuse by co-workers who think he took a bribe to mess up the crime scene. Professional Standards is still investigating him for the same reason and everyone he tries to arrest wants a chunk of him.
But a little ray of sunshine does appear, in the form of several mummified bodies. Yep, the work of a serial killer certainly is a day brightener for The Misfits, especially when due to circumstances beyond the control of their superiors; they get to keep the case.
McGregor soldiers on, despite seeing his future devastated and several horrors from his past confronted. Not to mention still losing body parts to biters.
This is such a five star novel. Oddly enough, we are able to find humor in Callum’s life and circumstances. Much of it is supplied by others in the Misfit Mob; the DI who is known as Mother to those who earn the right to call her such, the especially abusive Andy who is dying of cancer and fancies himself an author, the ever fighting Dot and Watt, Dot missing most of a leg and Watt who is hated just about by everyone. Then Rosalind Franklin, a beautiful black woman with a large, but earned chip on her shoulder is transferred in as McGregor’s new partner. His biggest job evidently is to keep her from punching out co-workers.
Oldcastle is presented as a town where I really wouldn't want to spend any time and Police Scotland as an agency it would be best to avoid.
MacBride manages the many characters and the many story lines with adroitness.
We share the thoughts and motivations of the killer but never the identification. There is a deadly race on to find the last victim of the killer who still might be alive. It all makes sense at the end, albeit a sick sense.
MacBride does not spare us anything; there is true darkness and despair page after page. That we can smile at a book that features murder, child abuse, spousal abuse, adultery, abandonment and sexual predators sneakily speaks more to our optimism than to our darkness. Not a bad lesson from MacBride and one we should heed.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.!

I thought this book was very well written,and the characters were interesting. However, I felt that there was a little too much going on - too many strands to the story and it started to feel just too far-fetched. It did get a wonderfully sinister atmosphere, and I would certainly look out for this author again.

Best thing ive read from MacBride and thats saying alot. The book featured a couple story lines that had some awesome characters, great big bunches of the creepy factor. This one is put out there as a stand alone, but i sure hope he finds a way to bring some of these characters back. The misfit mob was excellent! And how can you not like Callum, what a great character he is. Has a horrible life through out the book, but you never know whats around the corner with him. Book is long, but settle in and hold your breath, its a great ride.

After taking the blame so that his pregnant girlfriend can get her maternity pay, Callum is under investigation and banished to Oldcastle's 'Misfit Mob'. This is a group of officers banded together because of their issues and led by a ballsy DI called 'Mother' and dying DI called McAdams. When a number of bodies are found preserved as mummies it looks as though there have been spate of robberies from museums but the truth is darker. Callum has to try to investigate this alongside a concern about a family suffering domestic abuse, a breakdown in his personal relationship, the events of his childhood and the accusations that follow him.

Describing the plot for this book is incredibly hard to do as it is complex and crazy! However MacBride is such a wonderful writer that it all makes complete sense and meshes together beautifully. This is a stand-alone novel but is populated by such a diverse and interesting group of characters that it would be easy for it to become the basis of a series. Whilst it is extremely gritty and dark in places there is such a dry sense of humour running through the book and at times one feels like laughing out loud. There is more than a nod to the current pre-occupation with historical abuse but this is just one of the strands. For anyone new to MacBride's work this is a great introduction, for fans it is just wonderful.

This is the first book that I have read by Stuart Macbride and will probably be the last. I read many crime/thriller novels but found this a very slow read in the main. I thought that the plot was too easy to solve and did not really like the way the novel was written. Disappointed, yes, as I hoped to have found another crime author to follow, but on this occasion, sadly not.

As macabre as Mo Hayder but with some great dark humour, this lengthy work from Stuart MacBride has you riveted from the get-go. The detective misfits, reminiscent of Mick Heron's Slough Horses for their internecine squabbles, trying their best to work their way out of Oldcastle and back to civilisation. Our favourite detective Callum, if he was a cat we'd call him 'Lucky' in an ironic way. Molested, abandoned as a child, cuckolded as an adult and taking the career wrap for his prgenant girlfriend's misdemeanours, he is unswerving in doing his duty despite his constant kickings. Whenever I partake again of that venerable smoked fayre, a pair of kippers, I shall always remember A Dark So Deadly.

Police procedural in Scotland which is quite good and engaging

Set in a fictional Scottish town, this police procedural novel is about a serial killer on the loose and a bunch of misfit policemen are on his trail. The case shows the seedier side of Scotland's poor and disaffected and the novel has scenes of many types of abuse.

The main character, Callum McGregor, is well-developed as are those who work with him and are part of his life. The book also looks into McGregor's past and the fate of his family. Peppered with humour, this thriller will certainly please those readers into macabre but "light" mysteries. I didn't like the ending much but it does bring everything to a close.

Easily read even if many scenes are quite disturbing. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Sorry, I got to page three and my interest waned then died. It is a pity I had looked forward to reading this but the ridiculous fight the unlikely conversation following it and spoiled it before I started.
Maybe is a black comedy - if so the comedic element is missing.

Stuart MacBride is a new author for me but the Scottish setting seemed an ideal read for a Scottish holiday. This standalone thriller puts DC Callum MacGregor in the heart of the ‘Misfit Mob’, where officers are sent because they messed up or they do nit fit in. Several cases are linked and MacGregor finds himself looking into missing men and an ancient mummy.
Whilst I loved the Scottish setting and characters, I found the book was slightly too long but it has not stopped me trying and loving the Logan McRae series.

Absolutely loved this book, a real page turner and I didn't want to come to the end.

a lot of very unlikable characters but that only added to the darkness of the plot. Very dark and very gruesome indeed..

An absolute corker of a book. Couldn't put it down. As always Stuart delivers big style. I love the irreverent humour, the serial killer twists and turns, the thrill of the case and the psychology of trying to work out who actually did it (harder than you can imagine) .

Alongside the crime thriller; the piss taking, the dark humour and all the spot on sub plots make this a novel you just have to read. Unputdownable and laugh out loud funny, the best crime book I've read since Stuart's last one.

Don't miss out, read it now the first chance you get. Thank you for providing me with such perfect entertainment.