Cold Granite

Recently I consciously took a step back from the shiny new releases and made time for this ‘first novel in a bestselling series’ that I’d always wanted to read but had just never got around to.

Stuart MacBride’s Cold Granite begins with one of the more impactful opening chapters I have read, which ends with:

A smile spread across his lips like fire in a burning building. He really should take his medication, but not now. Not yet. Not when there were so many dead things to enjoy.

Macbride’s efficiently evocative writing style and characterisation, and with it the compulsion to read further despite the darkness, just continues to build from there.

The city of Aberdeen itself and its winter’s overbearing influence plays a very show more important role in Cold Granite. It amplifies the mood and degree of difficulty for the police investigation tenfold.

DS Logan McRae’s perspective is about as world-weary and dark humoured as you’d expect from a detective returning to the job that had led to him almost being killed. In terms of lead character types, he’s that fallible underdog that ultimately continues to push on despite his scarred body and brain telling him to say, “F *** it”. He doggedly tries to uphold justice despite seeing karma pass himself and others by time after time. Continue reading: https://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/2025/11/stuart-macbride-cold-granite-logan-... show less

I came across Stuart MacBride when he won "Celebrity Mastermind" a week or so ago. The host asked Macbride what he did when his first novel, "Cold Granite",was so well received that his publishers asked him for the next novel in the series, even though he had no plan for one. MacBride replied, "Well, it was write another novel or carry on working in IT. So... here's another novel."


That was enough for me to get hold of an audio book copy of *Cold Granite"


Set in the perpetually rain-drenched granite streets of Aberdeen, "Cold Granite" tells the story of DS Logan "Lazarus" McRae's return to work after a long sick leave recovering from a knife attack. On his first day back he ends up investigating the death of a young child.


What follows is show more a very Scottish police procedural, crammed with local colour, larger than life characters, raucous humour and unflinching descriptions of death, decay and violence.


The pace is perfect. The relationships inside the police force and between the police officers and the press felt very real. There are plenty of credible suspects, a twisted trail of crimes and criminals and, at the heart of it all, a young DS still learning his trade. McRae works hard, is not yet comfortable with his rank, occasionally screws up but mostly spends his energy doggedly pulling together the pieces of the puzzle that can lead him to the murderer.


It is straightforward crime fiction that delivers good entertainment and memorable characters.


Like MacBride's publishers, I'm demanding more. Fortunately, I'm twelve years late to this party so there are another nine books already in print.


"Cold Granite" is narrated with great skill by Steve Worsley. show less

After a year on sick leave, Logan McRae is back on the job with the Aberdeen police. His first day back is anything but restful, though: the city is in a panic with the death of a four-year-old boy, and others are going missing. Logan is put in charge of the murder enquiry, despite being only a DS, and hopes he can manage not to screw things up until he can hand the case over to someone more senior.

Despite the very grim subject matter, I ended up liking this book very much. The interactions between the various police officers were very often laced with mordant humour, which went a long way toward alleviating the grimness. I was particularly amused by DI Insch, Logan's new boss, who has a weakness for sweeties and a penchant for show more profanity. Another plus for the series is that enough backstory was provided to make you feel like Logan et al. were fully fleshed-out characters, but there weren't any major info-dumps. It felt like it could have been the second or third book in the series instead of the first. And the much-discussed gloomy Aberdonian weather was present in full force here; lots of rain and snow to make the cops' job miserable and bring both the crimes and the dark humour into sharp relief.

This was a fairly large book but never felt too long. I greatly enjoyed my visit to Aberdeen with Logan and the crew and will definitely be coming back soon. Seems as though I've become hooked on another series. show less

For American fans of Ed McBain's 87th precinct books, Stuart MacBride's Cold Granite will come as a welcome addition to the world of police procedurals. Chock full of vivid descriptions of Aberdeen, Scotland, the book can transport the reader from the sunniest of climes to the constant drizzle and gloom of an Aberdonian winter.

The author's great talent, I think, lies in the creation of atmosphere -- the hearty, well-lubricated police get-togethers at a local bar; the stench and slime of vivid crime scenes; the bleak interrogation rooms of the local police headquarters. American that I am, I had no problem fancying myself in Scotland, after reading MacBride's lucid descriptions.

And MacBride has limned some memorable characters, as well. show more From the pushy but likable crime reporter to the beautifully icy pathologist, MacBride's characters seem fully real. In fact, his protagonist, detective Logan MacRae, is almost the weakest character in the book -- not because of MacBride's descriptive talents, but simply because MacRae breaks the mold of the usual detective protagonist. He's not always in control, not brooding nor bitter, and it takes him quite a while to figure out what's going on beneath the surface of a number of similar crimes.

That said, I found this book heavy-going. I finished it quickly, but often had to force myself to pay attention to every page. That is my own personal weakness, though, not the author's. I am just not a big fan of police procedurals in general, though this one was a well-written debut.

A fan called this a "Tartan noir" but I must respectfully disagree. Though the weather throughout the book is bleak, the characters are not. MacBride sprinkles a generous dose of humanity into every character; even the villains are sympathetically painted. show less

A very competetantly written fortnight in the life of a Detective Sergent of Aberdeen's finest men (and women) in blue. It does feel like the middle of the series, but sufficient back story is given to explain previous events in the characters lives.

Logan Mcrae is our heoric DS. He's been off sick for a year following a stabbing in a previous (undetailed) case, and still feeling a bit tender, he returns to work on a typically bitter Aberdeen winter's day. His first case is the discovery of a dead boy, found murdered and abandonded in a ditch. The attending pathologist is his ex-girlfirend which doesn't hep matters. When another child goes missing, a gentle start back to work is out of the question, and its 16 hours days until the show more cultprit is found.

There's plenty of humour along the way, as well as some well crafted interactions amoung the police. Whether its a bolshy Detective Inspector or a bunch of the 'lads' out for a drink to erase the memories of a hard day, the details seem to fit. The police work also feels equally realistic, plenty of assumptions about what could have happened, finding some evidence to support it, and later realising that other interpretations are possible - very human, unlike some police stories out there. The triggers that form these assumptions are also given in sufficient detail to make it obvious to the reader what is going on. The annoying habit some authors have of giving insights from the perpetrators point of view is completely avoided, which keeps the tension going right up to the end.

Some of the characters were a little bit overdone - if DI Insch really ate that many sweets he wouldn't have any teeth left, nor be able to fit through a doorway. Likewise DI Steel, and also Aberdeen's weather, which I'm sure can't be unrelentingly bad for two straight weeks.... most of the time. I didn't spot any obvious plot holes, which is another point its favour, and all the various investigative threads were eventually tidied up, not too neatly, but realistically.

Overal very enjoyable, and a name well worth looking out for more. show less

DS Logan McRae is just coming off medical leave in Aberdeen (where it's usually cold and raining sideways) when he's assigned to DI Insch to investigate the murder of three-year-old David Reid. Soon, other children have gone missing and bodies are being discovered.

‘You know,’ said [DI] Insch, ‘since you came back to work we’ve had two abductions, found a dead girl, a dead boy and dragged a corpse with no knees out the harbour. All in the space of three days. That’s a record for Aberdeen.’ He poked about in his packet of fizzy, jelly shapes, coming out with what looked like an amoeba. ‘I’m beginning to think you’re some sort of jinx.’ ‘Thank you, sir.’

The prime suspect is "Roadkill," a schizophrenic with a degree show more in medieval history who, after leaving a mental hospital got a job picking up dead animals off the roads. Turns out he was keeping them on his small acreage and in one of the large piles was found the body of a 4-year-old girl.

The community is enraged, of course, with self-righteous anger directed at the police and this occasioned one of the funnier scenes in the book as protesters have gathered outside the police station with the usual misspelled signs. (You know the ones: "Get a Brain. Morans" or "Obama. Commander and Theif." or "No Pubic Option.") Or, as here, who can't spell paedophile. Logan winced as he read that last one. Nothing like stupid people with righteous fury and a mob on their side. Last time there had been this kind of fervour three paediatricians had their surgery windows smashed. Now it looked like they were after the foot fetishists.

The situation becomes more confused when forensics reveals one of the dead children had most likely been hit by a car.

Excellent. show less

If you think it's grim oop north, carry on for another 400 miles until you get to Aberdeen. Obviously cold, according to Stuart Macbride, it'll also almost certainly be raining - and usually in an amusing way. Meanwhile DS Logan McRae isn't so amused by the serial killer who's after the city's children. The plot abounds with red-herrings, possible leads, misdirection and all the rest, including some memorable characters and good jokes, though on occasion some strain too hard for memorability - 'the day was dark as a lawyer's soul'(!). The relationship between polis and press is very well done, and the finale, too, is suitably gripping. McRae and those around him do come off the page, and Aberdeen sounds well worth a visit. With an umbrella.