In the Cold Dark Ground is the tenth in the long-running, police
procedural, crime thriller series written by Stuart MacBride starring
Detective Sergeant Logan McRae and set in Scotland. What sets this series
apart (and frankly makes it one of my favorite reads in the genre) is
the sly humor and wry social commentary MacBride brings to the familiar
British mystery story. Additionally, the supporting cast in the series is quite strong,
even as it has changed (but not matured!) over the years it has taken me to read the first ten books. Detective
Chief Inspector Roberta Steel is a singular invention: an openly
lesbian, probably alcoholic, always inappropriate, slovenly terror of a boss. One of the long-running gags is that Steel as been promoted multiple times while Logan is still a lowly DS despite having captured 2 or 3 serial killers and solved countless other major crimes, in spite of DCI Steel's presence and "leadership."
Bizarrely, Logan doesn't feel "hard done by" his lot in life despite having been booted from his original stomping grounds of Aberdeen to a rural suburb of the city in Aberdeenshire, having a girlfriend who has been in a persistent vegetative state for nearly 5 years and still being a DS despite multiple decades in uniform. (Actually, he was promoted to Detective Inspector a few books ago and he really didn't seem to like or appreciate the increased level of responsibility and administrative red tape that accompanied the title change, so that was one reason he decamped to the rural outskirts from the big city.)
One of my complaints about the series has been how much **** Logan has been put through over the years. This is also a running theme of the series. The first book begins with Logan returning to duty several months after he nearly died from of stab wounds to the stomach (technically he did die briefly while on the operating table but surgeons were able to save him) and this near-death experience is why Steel calls him "Laz" (short for Lazarus). But since then Logan has been stabbed repeatedly, fallen multiple times from great heights, nearly drowned, been almost incinerated, unwittingly feasted on human flesh, been beaten up countless times by criminals and seriously injured himself pursuing fleeing criminals on foot and by car. MacBride treats Logan like an indestructible cartoon character.
Bizarrely, Logan doesn't feel "hard done by" his lot in life despite having been booted from his original stomping grounds of Aberdeen to a rural suburb of the city in Aberdeenshire, having a girlfriend who has been in a persistent vegetative state for nearly 5 years and still being a DS despite multiple decades in uniform. (Actually, he was promoted to Detective Inspector a few books ago and he really didn't seem to like or appreciate the increased level of responsibility and administrative red tape that accompanied the title change, so that was one reason he decamped to the rural outskirts from the big city.)
One of my complaints about the series has been how much **** Logan has been put through over the years. This is also a running theme of the series. The first book begins with Logan returning to duty several months after he nearly died from of stab wounds to the stomach (technically he did die briefly while on the operating table but surgeons were able to save him) and this near-death experience is why Steel calls him "Laz" (short for Lazarus). But since then Logan has been stabbed repeatedly, fallen multiple times from great heights, nearly drowned, been almost incinerated, unwittingly feasted on human flesh, been beaten up countless times by criminals and seriously injured himself pursuing fleeing criminals on foot and by car. MacBride treats Logan like an indestructible cartoon character.
None of that litany of violence prepared me for what happens to Logan In the Cold Dark Ground where it seems like the author is just being masochistic towards his main character. The difference this time is that in addition to the extreme physical violence of not one but three attempts in his life, a lot of the violence is emotional and mental (which definitely does not make it less traumatic). In fact, the way the book ends it made me wonder if MacBride had contemplated ending the series and focusing on his other series starring DC Ash Henderson. (I hope not! I haven't read the two entries in that series yet and find it hard to believe they will be as good as the Logan series.)
The primary mystery/crime to be solved in In the Cold Dark Ground is just one of the many plot threads in the book. Logan makes an astonishing discovery about his family life (which also impacts his professional life) and he is faced with not one, but two agonizing dilemmas which force him to choose between his current ethics as a policeman and his prior questionable choices/compromises. I'd say he makes the right choice in both cases this time but the ramifications will reverberate for a longer time than the depicted in this book.
There's a lot of resolution for Logan in In the Cold Dark Ground. Most of his primary relationships that have been huge features of prior books (with his girlfriend Samantha, with Aberdeen's crime kingpin Wee Hamish Moffat and even with DCI Steel) go through massive "phase transitions" which will mean the subsequent books in the series (so far there are only two more, The Blood Road (2018) and All That's Dead (2019)) will need to deal with the repercussions. And I can't wait to read them!
Title: In The Cold Dark Ground.
Author: Stuart MacBride.
Paperback: 400 pages.
Publisher: HarperCollins.
Date Published: January 16, 2016.
Date Read: July 11, 2020.
GOODREADS RATING: ★★★★★ (5.0/5.0).
OVERALL GRADE: A/A- (3.83/4.0).
Author: Stuart MacBride.
Paperback: 400 pages.
Publisher: HarperCollins.
Date Published: January 16, 2016.
Date Read: July 11, 2020.
GOODREADS RATING: ★★★★★ (5.0/5.0).
OVERALL GRADE: A/A- (3.83/4.0).
PLOT: A-.
IMAGERY: A-.
IMPACT: A.
WRITING: A.
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