Wow! This is probably one of the best police procedural/crime novels that I have ever read. It is my first Stuart MacBride book, but it definitely will not be my last. Scotland has survived two referenda. In the first they voted against independence, believing the “Better Together” campaign. So, in the second – the EU referendum – they also voted to remain together, and were royally shafted by the English nationalists, who decided that it was OK for the English to vote to “take back control”, but not the Scots. It is not a huge leap to understand that many Scots are a wee bit miffed. However, thankfully no one has yet taken their ‘disappointment’ to the extreme level of the so-called Scottish Nationalists in this book. Someone is targeting high profile, anti-(Scottish)-independence, pro-English rent-a-mouths, and they are not just throwing milkshakes and eggs. First target is Nicholas Wilson – a constitutional scholar, who is loathed by even his closest associates. So, when he goes missing, not a lot of tears are shed. However, the blood left in his home, and a macabre parcel later to delivered to BBC Scotland., make it clear, that this is no ordinary Missing Person situation. DI Frank King has been assigned to lead the investigation, and Inspector Logan McCrae, from Professional Standards (back at work after being stabbed in a previous book), has been assigned to keep an eye on DI King. King is under suspicion of having Alt-Nat terrorist links. His marriage is failing, he is drinking too much and Logan has his work cut out for him if he wants to save King’s career (and his own), and solve this crime: “the scapegoat’s scapegoat had no intention of letting the original-issue scapegoat screw things up and land him in it”. King explains: “You know how the Alt-Right is full of white supremacists, gun nuts, racists, and neo-Nazis? Well, Alt-Nats are our own home-grown version. Only without the guns and Nazis. And it’s the English they hate.” The crime, the many unexpected twists and turns before the eventual solution, are so well designed, that you are compelled to keep reading right to the bitter end. But that is just window-dressing for the real treasures in this novel: the wonderful writing and the amazing characters. The scenes are always so perfectly set, that you could be a fly on the wall. For example: “A small bark crackled out in the hallway, and Stalin hobbled through the study door. Wheezing and whining. Fading brown spots. Legs stiff with arthritis. A clockwork Jack Russell that was slowly winding down.”; “Bees bumbled their way between the flowering weeds that lined the drive, hoverflies buzzing amongst the thunderheads, house martins reenacting the Battle of Britain – jinking and swooping and diving, while a clatter of jackdaws looked on from the farmhouse roof.”; “A clipped voice came from a room off to one side, as if every word was being throttled to stop it screaming, emphasising the Highland burr.”; “Deep wrinkles slashed their way across her forehead, barely concealed by a sweaty brown fringe. Mid-forties, going on homicidal”. And then there are the Scottish dialect words, expressions and insults, which I loved discovering. Luckily each is used in a context that makes it easy for non-Scots to understand e.g. “Mrs Bag-For-Life raised a walking stick and took a wee hurpley step forward”, “one of the lippy auld wifies”. My favourite insult was the “Womble-funting dick-muppets”. There were so many great sentences, that I just had to read out to my husband. Because I had not (yet) read any of the earlier books, I missed some of the character development – and was, on the whole, presented with perfectly formed unique, believable characters (such as Logan and the intimidating, foul-mouthed lesbian, Steel), and had a little catching up to do. However, my favourite of all was the ever-cheery, ever-helpful, high-as-a-kite (on caffeine) Tufty: “like a kicked dachshund. ‘Pity poor Tufty…’ Bless his little Starfleet socks, but that lad was a complete and utter weirdo”. Tufty is severely underrated by his colleagues (“asking Tufty had always been a long shot. It wasn’t as if he was renowned for his Sherlock-Holmes-style steel-trap intellect, was it? He wasn’t completely thick – the boy was great on sci-fi trivia, so if Star Trek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or Battlestar Galactica came up at a pub quiz, he was your man – but actual police work? Might as well ask a drunken hedgehog to fill out your tax return”), but really is a computer whiz (“Brave Sir Tufty’s algorithmic methodology is inspired, but without more computing power, it’s like trying to push a ten-tonne blancmange uphill wearing nothing but flip-flops and an amusing hat.” ), and eventually he comes up with the goods. He also makes a habit of hacking Logan’s phone. Nationalism is a blight on every country, and in the book, nationalism is taken to obscene lengths. Steel sums up the feelings of many Scots: “I’m all for independence. But I want a Scotland of the Enlightenment; a nation of fairness and equality; a nation that cares about the smallest, weakest person living here every bit as much as the biggest, richest one. A nation that welcomes everyone: aye, even the English … What I don’t want is some sort of apartheid s****hole full of racist, moronic, ethnic cleansing w*** spasms like you.” I loved this book and can highly recommend it to everyone. I have already bought book number one in this series. My husband is scouring the library for the rest, as he is also hooked. Read and be enthralled. I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Stuart MacBride has written yet another great story about Logan McRae in All That’s Dead. I like the way Stuart MacBride intersperses humour throughout the book, some of which made me laugh out loud. Our hero has been off for a year having been stabbed & is supposed to be Working in Professional Standards but gets caught up in an investigation & ends up (of course) solving it! I love all the regular characters- Logan McRae, Roberta Steele, Tufty, Rennie & Logan’s girlfriend Tara. Loved the way the book ended & hope that there will be more stories about them in the future.

Having read and thoroughly loved one of Mr MacBride's previous outings starring Logan McRae - A Dark So Deadly - I was thrilled to be accepted by the publisher, HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction, via NetGalley to read and review "All That's Dead" before publication in return for an honest and unbiased review. This instalment had a lot to live up to and, overall, it hit the mark with it's dark humour, the fantastic characters, the setting, the twists and all wrapped up in an excellent plot amongst the backdrop of domestic terrorism and the independence movement in Scotland which although results in a fair bit of English-bashing, does mirror Brexit (oh how I hate that word!) in many respects which makes it topical and current too! I did have a few niggles that did irritate me somewhat ... one or two of the characters who were supposed to be Police Officers did not come across as very believable; they were overly childish and not very good at their jobs. In addition, I found the word "sooked" extremely annoying for some reason - not sure why but it just wound me up. I am absolutely certain that it would be better to read the series in order, it does work as a standalone pretty successfully and although the niggles prevented me from awarding this a 5 star read, I would still recommend it.

MacBride has a unique and cuttting humour which helps counter this dark tale of murder. His characterisation is strong and as he weaves the ongoing relationships of his complex characters around this tale of nationalist extremists he lightens the mood and provides us with a fascinating back story. Very enjoyable read, best read as part of the series but could stand alone.

I enjoyed this novel by Stuart MacBride. This latest story is book 12 in the logan McRae series. As always there is a humorous element throughout Mr MacBrides stories. The one liners were good but I think just a bit too frequent. I am a Scot and felt just a little bit saturated by the Scottish slang throughout the book. This was a fast moving story which was well executed. There was a strong political theme, with Scottish Independence playing a huge part in the storyline. As with all Stuart MacBrides books there were lots of twists and turns and surprises. I would recommend this novel.