Publisher's Weekly Review
In this savage, darkly comic second American outing for the newest member of the "Scottish noir" school, the action begins with a particularly gruesome crime: a madman has sealed up a squatter's apartment and set it-and the six people partying inside-afire. That same evening, a prostitute is found beaten to death, and Det. Sgt. Logan MacRae, the ambitious star of Cold Granite (2005), is on the case. But his star has fallen; after a botched raid, MacRae has been demoted to the "Screw-Up Squad," led with a droll lack of enthusiasm by one Inspector Steel. Several characters from Cold Granite reappear, but newcomers won't have any trouble parsing this thriller, though some may be unsettled by the jarring but witty contrast between MacBride's wry tone and the story's brutal violence. The city of Aberdeen figures as one of this well-written novel's main characters, a portrait that will warn readers away from its mean streets. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
A beset Detective Sergeant in Aberdeen finds it's always darker before it turns Stygian. By all accounts, Logan MacRae (Cold Granite, 2005) is a good cop. Well, by almost all accounts. Detective Inspector Napier, who hated Logan at first sight, continues to envy and resent him. When a sting operation goes wrong, Napier banishes MacRae to Detective Inspector Roberta Steel's aptly named "Screw-up Squad." DI Steel--large, loud and colorfully opinionated, a female counterpart of DCI Andy Dalziel, the English bull in Reginald Hill's China shop--is investigating the murder of that well-known Aberdeen lady of the evening, Rosie Williams. In short order, two of Rosie's colleagues are beaten to death and then mutilated by someone who clearly wants to send a message. But what sort of message? Inspector Steele may be fat and frumpy, with hair "that something terrible had happened to," but nobody ever said she wasn't cunning. Is she dealing with a sociopathic serial killer, or someone out to grab headlines? Seeing her own chance for some profitable ink, she plans to wind up the newbie and exploit the daylights out of him. Funny, occasionally brutal and surprisingly poignant. Though it's certainly overlong for a police procedural, the raffish cast of often inept coppers (think Scottish Keystone) will keep you along for the ride. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
In Aberdeen, Scotland, it doesn't just rain, it pours. The climate perfectly suits surly Detective Sergeant Logan Lazarus McRae, recently demoted to the Grampian Police's Screw-Up Squad, after a sting operation he was manning left a senior officer dead. Desperately seeking professional redemption, McRae finds himself straddling two grisly cases: the savage murder of a prostitute and a suspicious fire that claimed six lives. Being a detective is grim, often thankless, work, and McRae and his fellow, foulmouthed officers numb themselves with a host of less-than-healthy substances: nicotine, dark ale, bacon sandwiches (butties ), and greasy chips. There's little rest for McRae, as he navigates a world of sleazy journalists, drug-dealing grandmothers, and slick corporate financiers. But he does manage to slip in time between the sheets with fellow officer Jackie Watson, while trying to steer clear of ex-girlfriend Isobel, a forensic pathologist whose personality is just a few degrees warmer than her specimens in the morgue. Fans of Ian Rankin and Denise Mina will enjoy the mordant MacBride, whose second novel is every bit as dark and riveting as his debut, Cold Granite (2005). --Allison Block Copyright 2006 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Detective Sergeant Logan MacRae, held responsible for the fatal shooting of a young constable when a planned raid goes wrong, is assigned to the "Screw-Up" squad. Soon the Aberdeen police are hip deep in a series of brutal murders and a fatal arson case. MacRae juggles both investigations as he works with his old and new squads. Tough, gritty, and dark as only a Scottish crime novel can be, MacBride's follow-up to his debut, Cold Granite (which has been shortlisted for the International Thriller Writers's inaugural Best First Novel award), offers a twist ending that leaves the reader gasping. MacBride joins Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, David Lawrence, and Stephen Booth in elevating the British police procedural to the highest levels of quality. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 4/1/06.] (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.