Review: Partners in Crime

Partners in Crime by Stuart MacBride
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I honestly believe this is the closest I’ve ever been to giving short stories a five star rating.

Often, I find short stories to be a case of hit or miss. I’m even more tentative when it comes to any series I consider to be one of my favourites. Such stories can add so much more to the overall series, or they can be a handful of pages that add nothing much at all. Thus, I went in with a feeling of trepidation.

Whilst these two short stories don’t add all that much to the overall series, they are a lot of fun. Yes, references are made to the events within these pages in the future books – but it’s not the end of the world if you do not read them. I suggest you do, though, as they’re so much fun.

Of the two, DI Steel’s Bad Heir Day was my favourite. I cannot begin to explain how much I laughed at this one. I was so engrossed in the story that I walked around Asda reading this, earning many strange looks and a handful of questions pertaining to the noises I was making. Explaining what was so funny – well, that was something else entirely. Honestly, I cannot begin to explain how amusing this story was. Every turn of the page seemed to have me chuckling away at something new. I’m fairly certain I was close to hyperventilating at one point – such was my amusement. Yes, MacBride always brings about some kind of chuckle; this was something else entirely, though.

Stramash was also highly entertaining. It wasn’t quite as amusing, but it did earn plenty of giggles from me. I feel as though the story was a bit more substantial here, yet both were a lot of fun. Both gave us many entertaining Steel moments, yet Stramash was the one to give us amusement in the form of both Steel and McRae.

Considering the very small number of pages here, these were two wonderful little tales.

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