Review: A Song for the Dying

A Song for the Dying by Stuart MacBride
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Stuart MacBride has been a favourite author since I picked up Cold Granite, the first of his Logan McRae books. At present, I’m still playing catch up. Despite not being up to date, I adore the series. It has earned a place in my favourite police procedural series. Due to this, I was eager to see what else MacBride has to offer. Thus, I picked up the two Ash Henderson books that are currently on the market. I enjoyed the first one, but it was no Logan McRae novel. Nevertheless, I was excited to see where things would go. After all, that ending left me curious as to what would come next.

Personally, I enjoyed this book more than I enjoyed the first. Both books were a lot of fun, yet I was pulled into this one much quicker. I think a part of it was because I’d already come to love the characters. As fun as they are, they take a bit of getting used to. The characters in the Logan McRae series pull you in from the first moment, yet the characters in the Ash Henderson novels are not so easy to love. You come to enjoy them the more you read of them, and having already finished the first book I knew what to expect with this one.

Plus, as I said, that ending.

The first book left you with a big question of what would come next. Considering all that had happened, I wasn’t sure where things would be going in this book. As always, though, MacBride delivers. He gives us a story that ticks all the boxes: wonderful criminal aspect, fun characters, and a story that moves everything forward in a great way. I promise not to say too much about how the story moves forward, just know it was great progress for all the characters.

As always, the criminal aspect was a lot of fun. It has everything you need in a gritty crime novel. There are multiple layers to the story, with everything being interconnected in a great way. Every piece of information that is given to you plays an important part. You’re constantly left with questions, curious about motives and alibis. You think you know what is happening, who is to blame, yet something new will be thrown your way to leave you unsure as to whether or not you have worked everything out. Whilst the first Ash Henderson book wasn’t as pulled together as it could have been, this second book is back to what MacBride usually delivers. It gives us all we can ask for.

I still missed the dark humour, though.

As I said with the first book, that’s just me. I enjoy the laughter of the Logan McRae books a lot more than is probably expected of people. As the Ash Henderson books merely offer up occasional smiles, I feel as though we’re missing the usual MacBride trademark. Admittedly, there were more smiles in this book than the first, but it still missed out on all the laughter of the Logan McRae books. I said it when reviewing the first book, though: this isn’t a bad thing. It’s just different, and you grow to accept it. I know that for the real laughter I go for his Logan McRae books, whereas for the questionable main character I go for his Ash Henderson books.

As a whole, I enjoyed this one more than the first. The Logan McRae books still hold the favourite MacBride series spot, but this series is more than worth a read if you love the darker main characters.

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