Book nine in the Logan McRae series and the first book I have read (but not the last).

There were moments in this book when I felt that I didn't read one book; I was reading at least 2-3 books just made into one. It wasn't just the thickness of the book; it was the fact that there was so much going on that it almost left me feeling exhausted just reading it. There is so much going one beside the case of the little girl that is washed up outside the town Banff; the hunt for drug dealers, shoplifters, the trial of a killer and what felt like thousands of other things that the police in rural Aberdeenshire had to deal with.

But it worked; it worked really well, even though I felt a bit lost in the beginning trying to get to grip with the book's story and its characters. I mean this is book nine, and there is a lot of history I missed since I haven't read the first eight books. But still I got some information now and then that made me slowly get to grip with Logan and also with Roberta Steel. I love her; seriously, she is like a female version of Dalziel (Daziel and Pasco by Reginald Hill). Yes, she is blunt and pigheaded, but she is also funny and quite formidable. Also, there is Logan's cat Cthulhu. Best name ever?

The book is great. Yes, I felt overwhelmed by the story sometimes, but Stuart Macbride really manages to make all the different parts in this book come together in the end. Usually, I'm used to the police be able to just focus on a case or two, but here, there are always things going on. I mean they have to move cows from roads, get lost old people home safe, stakeouts etc. all the while trying to find a child killer.

The biggest problem for me with the book was that I had some hard time getting into the book in the beginning. I felt a bit lost when it came to the story and the characters and it took me a while to really feel that I got the rhythm of the book. Also, I hate it when children are the victim and no matter how well written a book is it's a subject I have the most problems reading about.

But still, despite that I liked the book very much and even though the book was very dark sometimes was there also many humorous moments (I bookmarked many pages when I read my pdf copy) and I have borrowed from the library the first four books in the series and I will read them this summer! ( )

Teetered between a three and a four for this one. Really a fan of the series, but wasn't sure what to make of the beginning of the novel. This installment really illustrates the difference between a mystery and a procedural novel, and ultimately it was the element of everyday policing that won me over. ( )

The Missing and The Dead by Stuart MacBride is the ninth entry in his Logan McRae series. In this outing Logan has been given a “development opportunity” and posted to rural Aberdeenshire. As duty officer he is overseeing an under-manned police force that covers a huge area, including a number of small towns and villages. When the body of a little girl is found, he thinks he is about to head up a murder investigation, but no, the officials instead dispatch his old boss DI Roberta Steel and her crew to handle the case. Then when he arrests a couple of locals for dealing drugs, another crew from the city are sent to take over the case. He is expected to take care of the local shop lifting, removing cattle from the roads, and look into a spate of burglaries.

It’s been awhile since I read about Logan McRae and it was fun reconnecting with him and his cronies. DI Roberta Steel is her usual obnoxious, annoying and highly humorous self. Logan can’t seem to catch a break and has the top brass breathing down his neck for most of the book. Of course, he is his own worst enemy as he can’t seem to help but tread on his superiors’ toes. He is also caring for his girlfriend who is in a coma.

I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of the actual police procedures and how the rural police force operate. MacBride is an excellent writer and keeps his reader fully engrossed in the story with strong well defined characters, exciting plot lines, plenty of dark humor and a hero with heart. ( )

Logan McRae is a Sergeant in this book. As a part of his "promotion" he is sent to an outlying division to gain "experience". It's not a very nice area and he soon becomes caught up with drug runners, domestics violence investigations, and anything else they might want to throw at him. Of course he should have time to investigate just one more case. Logan's life soon becomes darker and much more confused. His relationship with Roberta Steele gets more complicated also. Actually I wish they would transfer her somewhere else...Mars or Jupiter would be great. The sad part of the story is that a little girl is found dead...and a horrible mutilation occurs. The story is both shocking and sad but is filled with surprises. ( )

The usual great fun, multi layered, gritty Scottish detective story. Sergeant Logan McRae as always ever troubled and hindered by the sarcastic often witty comments from the politically incorrect DI Roberta Steel.The body of a little girl washes up on a sleepy coastal town and it is this case that forms the central story in The Missing and the Dead. As well as unravelling the mystery of the child Sgt McRae still needs to deal with a multitude of incidents and petty crime that form the day to day case load of Police Scotland.

Stuart MacBride is unique in crime fiction. He has the ability to hold his readers attention by layering his narrative with colourful incidents and shady characters that are the backbone of everyday modern police work.There is great humour and warmth in MacBride's writing and yet he manages to deal eloquently and sympathetically with the search for the killer of a precious young girl resulting in a surprising and yet equally sad conclusion. Long may Stuart MacBride reign as the king of Scottish noir. ( )