Review: The Missing and the Dead

The Missing and the Dead by Stuart MacBride
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Cold Granite was enough to place Stuart MacBride on my list of must read authors, and the more I read the more I love his work. There is no doubt that he quickly became one of my favourite authors. Of his work, his Logan McRae series is my favourite. There’s a slight bit of bias because I know Aberdeen so well, but even without that element the series is wonderful – the criminal element is always intriguing, the characters are amazing, and the humour never ending. Overall, this series always delivers.

Despite having purchased all of the books in the series to work my way through them in rapid-fire fashion, I took an unintended break between books eight and nine. Books nine and ten were left with my family, hundreds of miles away from Aberdeen, meaning I needed to wait until I was visiting them to grab the books. I doubt they were too pleased when I jumped at the books and broke out into laughter before saying hello to anyone. I would apologise, but this series is such a massive addiction.

Compared to the prior books in the series, The Missing and the Dead is a bit of a change. Book nine gives us something new, something I was unsure about but quickly came to love. No longer are we following the trend of every other police procedural out there – now we’re following a uniformed officer. It was such an unexpected transformation, and I really enjoyed this change of pace. At the start, I wasn’t quite sure how much I was going to enjoy this change, but it really was a lot of fun. It gives you a completely different perspective, one that makes you stop and think in a completely different way. If there was ever an author to make you stop and think, an author to turn things around in a series, it is Stuart MacBride.

Despite changing things around, the classic Stuart MacBride elements are right there for all to see. The criminal element of this story pulls you in from the start, leaving you interested throughout. The characters were great – old and new alike. The humour was fabulous – I cannot remember the last time I giggled so hard (I cannot lie; Stuart MacBride always gets me in trouble with the amount of giggling that occurs).

Overall, The Missing and the Dead was a wonderful addition to the Logan McRae series. It was a perfect reminder of why I love Stuart MacBride so much, this series in particular.

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