I struggled to get into it at first particularly keeping track of the different characters and different strands of the story. But it did picked up very quickly and kept me totally entertained and gripped to the point of not wanting to put it down. Halfway through, I actually thought that I'd figured out who the killer was but WOW, how wrong was I?! And then the twists and turns really began.

There’s a serial killer loose mummifying bodies whilst there are other strands of sub-plots that all combine together but at times I lost track of which killer we were following! I'm glad I don't live in Stuart MacBride's imagination - it's a pretty gruesome place! This could be one of the most twisted books I've ever read (and i have read a fair few!), and while disturbing in content, it is an excellent piece of entertainment and clever writing with the way the plot intertwined with different crimes and characters.

I did workout that the frequent italics were previous events, conversations or internal meanderings, which once sussed made sense!

I wish this wasn't a standalone and we could see more of the Misfit Mob's cases and the characters in this book are worthy of their own series!!

All in all I thought the story was pretty far-fetched but gripping, sharp and very funny! It is a Very long, door stopper of a book so not a quick read and I think the size of the book is what helps to make it so great and not rushed.

I would highly recommended this book too readers who like a complex thriller full of action and suspense.

This was my first book by MacBride, it certainly won't be the last, I've heard good things about the Logan series, so I think I will check those out next :-)

Brilliantly written as is usual for Stuart MacBride. Keeps you on the edge of your seat until the climatic end. Twists and turns deliciously and deceptively. Read with the light on and the door locked!

A complex thriller which kept me fully engrossed.
Great characters in wonderful situations.
I just could not put it down.

A well-written book with a great protagonist and great characters good plot which keeps the reader interested from beginning to end. Great humour is intertwined throughout making the narrative real and believable. Recommended.

This was my first Stuart MacBride book and it certainly won't be my last. It was engaging from start to finish and I can't recall the last time I read a crime thriller that was so unpredictable. The characters were deep and interesting which made it easy to care about what happened to them.
Lots of twists and turns made this a really easy book to read. Stuart Macbride has a new fan.

A great police procedural, when a group of misfits are put together in a team anything can happen as they all have to prove themselves as being worthy of keeping their jobs. It's quite funny in places and quite deep but an enjoyable read.

A Dark So Deadly by Stuart Macbride:

DC Callum MacGregor is a disgraced police officer. His career in tatters, he’s thrown in to work with the Misfit Mob; 4 fellow police officers who have also been rejected by the main branch of Police Scotland but who are not willing to hang up the handcuffs just yet!

Callum is fighting accusations of taking a bribe and tampering with a crime scene to get a career criminal off the hook - something he absolutely denies doing. Even his colleagues in the Misfit Mob assume him to be guilty and give him a daily ribbing about taking bribes from criminals. With his long-term girlfriend Elaine heavily pregnant and on maternity leave and maternity pay, Callum is faced with the challenge of keeping his job whilst trying to maintain his innocence. At the same time, Callum is also fighting demons from his own past and desperately wants to know what happened to his family.

Callum’s Misfit Mob colleagues are Andrew MacAdam, Mother, Dotty, Watt and new recruit Franklin. When they are unexpectedly assigned to a murder investigation, the team has to pull together and work with each other to try and find their murderer before they strike again.

The book is jam packed with about 4 different storylines and has so many characters I kept having to remind myself who was who! This might sound off-putting but it has the opposite effect and sucks the reader in as you try to figure out if and how everyone is connected while also trying to figure out each of the plot lines!

The plot lines in this book are really well developed and well written. I was constantly guessing. The characters are also really good with them all being fairly likeable and realistic. Their personalities were well developed and they all added to the story.

I was a little disappointed with the ending, purely because of the way it was revealed. I felt it was very rushed and could’ve been explained a lot better. I also wasn’t sure I understood the culprit’s motive or reasoning. It felt a little bit like a huge curveball thrown in just for the big twist. I also felt that other aspects could’ve been explained much better. And the plot line of Callum’s past and his family was never really resolved for me - I felt it didn’t make much sense. But I still enjoyed it a lot.

A Dark So Deadly is the first Stuart Macbride book I’ve read and I was surprised at just how much I enjoyed it! At 608 pages, it’s a bit of a slog and took me over a week to finish but still, it’s a very good standalone book from Stuart Macbride with plenty of twists and turns along the way.

A Dark So Deadly - Stuart MacBride
First, I would like to express my thanks to Harper Collins Books UK, NetGalley and the author who provided a digital copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
Stuart MacBride, a thriller writer of Scottish Detective thrillers, perhaps best known for his Logan McRae series drifts from his norm to give his readers a wonderful stand-alone police thriller. And, I must admitt, that when I first started reading this thriller, I did not think that I would be calling it a “wonderful stand-alone police thriller.” But, if the reader stays with this book, the rewards will be abundant.
A Dark So Deadly introduces us to the “Misfit Mob”, a squad of little distinction in Police Scotland, a squad where one is put out to pasture, so to speak, for blunders in the line of duty. It’s kind of like being sent to be an extra on “Welcome Back Kotter” - definitely not much of a future. And the squad is keenly aware of this, and, as a result, they are constantly suabbling and pointing fingers, and saying who is the bigger mess-up. This continual bickering is a major distraction to the reader and a disturbing turn-off at first. That is, until the reader realizes that this dialog is necessary to establish the background and the inner workings of the plot of the story. Once the reader realizes this, and MacBride curbs the bickering, the story really takes off.
The squad usually gets the run-of the-mill cases that other squads pass on. But, somehow, they inherit a very big murder case. They are excited and badly want to solve it. Mother, DCI Flora Malcomsom, is the big boss lady. Then we have Detective Seargeant Andrew McAdams, a 42 year old man dying of terminal bowel cancer, and whom has no desire of dying at home or in a hospital. Next, we have the detestable Detective Constable John Watt, whom has no social ammenities, is completely unaware of this, and thinks that he is the best-suited of the squad to solve every case. Yuk. Other than Callum and Rossalind, this leaves Detective Seargeant Dorothy “Dotty” Hodgin, a one-legged woman confined to a wheel chair who actually detests John Watt. Nevertheless, the squad has pulled a major serial killer case, and they must race and come together to solve the case.
DC Callum MacGregor and Rossalind Franklin, a beautiful Black woman, are, more or less, the protagonists of A Dark So Deadly. Somehow, they stumble to succcess and are the primary solvers of the case of the killers who are abducting and mumifying bodies around Scotland. The murders are a slow and painful death, and the public, and Police Scotland is wanting results fast. Although, MacGregor and Franklin do not seem to get along all that well, it is soon apparent that behind the scenes, there is nothing that the othere would not do to help his partner. However, they are not lovers, just partners with that special unspoken bond amongst all of the quibbling. Callum is having a very bad time of it, finding out that he has been paying for his girlfriend’s pregancy and all that goes along with it, only to find that he is being dumped and kicked out of the flat that he has been paying for in favor of one of his superiors at Police Scotland. Oh, yes, and he finds this out the same day that he discovers that his mother (and possibly his father and twin brother) were murdered when he was five years old.
There is so much that goes on in this book. It is very busy, coming in at 608 pages and after the first 30-40 pages, the reader is never bored. This book is something else, and I cannot wait to read more Stuart MacBride thrillers. He konws how to turn the level up. I would have no trouble recommending this book to readers of thrillers or police procedurals. This book is an easy 4.5 stars.

Stuart MacBride introduces to Oldcastle once again and we meet both old and new characters who pique our interest completley.Well written with many sub stories to follow this is a book that will delight again and again providing as much pleasure on each reading as it did on the first

This is a stand-alone book and as I’ve wanted to read something by Stuart MacBride this seemed an ideal opportunity.

What a distinctive style MacBride has and uses to tell a quite gruesome murder story containing a bunch of last-hope police officers and not without humour.

The Mistfit Mob lead by ‘Mother’ with a second in command McAdams, who is terminally ill, are a bunch of coppers who for one reason or another have been kicked into touch – Callum, the newbie Franklin, Watt and Dot. They aren’t allowed to work big cases since they are assumed to be a liability. Yet they end up getting a murder case and not just one but several seemingly connected deaths, it looks like there’s a serial killer on the loose.

There are several themes along side that of the murders, this book is full of plots, twists and turns and it all helps to keep the reader interested, the book flowing and the action moving along. The characters are terrific, realistic and you warm to them. Well written with a sense of humour this is a strangely enjoyable story. It’s a long book, perhaps a little too long, but there’s a lot being packed into it. Alongside the murder is an unofficial ‘cold case’ involving Callum who finds out that it’s an abduction/Murder investigation on the day that his personal life shatters to bits. Also, there’s the young mother with three small children who Callum worries over, for good reason; then there’s the matter of a nasty criminal out to harm Callum and another police officer DCI Powell. There may be a moment or two were you feel you need to suspend belief or there’s been a twist too far but MacBride pulls everything together masterfully.

If you enjoy a good police procedural with a serial murder investigation and don’t mind a bit (well a lot) of rain, some odd quotes interspersed through the book that at first seem pointless and the fact that you might never want to eat smoked fish again then give this a go I think you might be glad you did.

With thanks to HarperCollins for an eARC of this book via NetGalley in return for an honest opinion.

Another book in the line of Police misfits who in spite of everything against them,win through.
DS Steel now demoted from DCI heads the misfits with DC Calum Macgregor trying his best which seems to just get things going downhill for him.
Wonderful atmospheric writing with the North East Scotland the playground which thrusts the reader very much into the lives of those who live there. Wonderful pace that grips you on every page .

I really enjoyed this book, but I wonder if it's being written for TV! I enjoy the pace he writes at and the gripping tension that he builds up. It is just the best kind of page turner. I hadn't read him before but I immediately ordered the other books in the Logan McRae series.and have devoured them too.

Full Review: http://readingruby.co.uk/book-review-a-dark-so-deadly-by-stuart-macbride/

*3.5 Stars*

I've heard a lot about Stuart MacBride's writing for a long time now, but have never delved into his work. However, when I was offered an arc of this release a figured I'd give it a try. I'm glad I did! Although I don't think I'm likely to read his longer series' as I'm not much of a fan of longer series', I really enjoyed this standalone.

One thing you do have to understand is that this book is DARK, and I mean dark, dark humour. However, I enjoyed it and found it a really interesting read. The fact that this book is set in Scotland made it even more interesting to me, as I don't find many books that are and it's always interesting to read about a familiar setting, where I live. That being said, although I find MacBride's description of Scottish cities numerous, I also find them incorrect in many instances. Nonetheless, MacBride succeeds in the storyline and characterisation in this book.

'A Dark So Deadly' follows DC Callum MacGregor who has been dumped into the MisFit Mob, where Callum finds links between current missing young men and cold cases - however, when Major Crimes already has a full case load, the Misfit Mob have to investigate this one themselves. I did find the culprit in the end to be surprising, but not totally shocking and therefore I would rate this a very decent 3.5 stars! I'd recommend this to those who are looking for a suspenseful, humerous detective story! Check it out.

I received this E-Arc in exchange for an honest review and would like to say thank-you to HarperCollins for providing me with an advanced-readers-copy of this book.

This is set in Oldcastle, Scotland and follows the Misfit Mob which is made up of six members of the Scottish Police force who for various reasons have been 'dumped' in this team.

In charge of this mob is DI Flora Malcolmson aka 'Mother' - suffered a heart attack. Two sergeants work with her, with DS Andy McAdams - has terminal cancer and DS Dotty Hodgkin - wheelchair bound after an accident. There are three Detective Constable's, DC Barry Watt - reported his last team for taking bribes, DC Rosalind Franklin - punched another colleague and DC Callum MacGregor - supposedly took a bribe to mess up evidence.

A mummified body is found at the rubbish tip.  The team investigate and Callum is tasked with the thankless task of telephoning museums to discover if a mummy is missing from their collection.

Then, another mummified body is found in the boot of a car.  Upon visiting the flat linked to the car,  a third body is discovered soaking in brine in the bathtub. The first two bodies have a faint smell of smoke and Callum realises the cases are linked, along with evidence from the x-rays taken at the post mortem that show fillings in their teeth and that this last body discovery was the killers next victim, a work in progress so to speak.

A head turns up half frozen in a rubbish bag with Callum's DNA on it, and he is questioned about it. However, he didn't do with it; the head belongs to his mother who he thought along with this dad and twin brother had abandoned him 25 years ago, which put him in care. Now the police must reopen the case and find the murderer of his family.

Then a girl and her mother are taken from their home and the team must race to find them before they become the next victims.

This story is mainly told from Callum's point of view following the case, recalling the day his family left him and the subsequent investigation now they know it's a murder, plus his personal life with his pregnant girlfriend Elaine. The story is interspersed with intermittent lines from a book and songs, which at first make no sense but by the end it has meaning.  We also see the story through the killers eyes -Imhotep- promising his victims that he will make them gods and recalling his own depressing childhood.

This novel had me gripped right until the end, trying to guess who Imhotep is or the murderer of Callum's family - I got both wrong in my guess and was surprised by the ending, discovering the culprits to the crimes - not who I thought it was at all!

Whilst the characters were fantastic and the flow of the story very good, at times I got fed up with DS McAdams and his annoying haiku's. There were also times when people were having a conversation and it was interspersed with a radio programme, which took me out of the story. Plus two colleagues talking about various bits of the case or personal stuff and ignoring each other in their replies, was frustrating to follow.

There was also a point at which DC Watts got attacked and the next few paragraphs got confusing and I had to re-read it to figure out what was going on. I also had to look up Scottish terms such as sooking or bothy which delayed my reading having to look it up.

Apart from those few niggles, I was surprised to see this was a one off story about this team from the author and I'd definitely like to see more from the Misfit Mob in the future.

Although the Logan novels remain my favourite, you can't fail to love a new Stuart MacBride.

I really struggled with this book. I found it to be a disjointed tale and the writing style made it all the more hard to follow. I’ve heard really good things about this author, so, it may be that this is just not one of his best. Not for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to review.

This is the first book of Stuart's I have read and if the others are like this then I will be keeping an eye out for them.

The book was really well written and I couldn't work out who did it until the big reveal.

I also felt that all of the characters were realistic and the way they behaved and acted was very believable
Well worth a read

Nothing is going right for DC Callum MacGregor. He has been accused of compromising a crime-scene that results in a notorious villain going free and him being sent to join the ‘misfit mob’ as punishment. From then on things only go from bad to worse! The team are working on a gruesome case (no spoilers) but cope with black humour (quite often at Callum’s expense). The realistic dialogue and believable characters result in a gripping story that keeps you guessing right to the end.

A Dark So Deadly is a stand-alone police procedural from the creator of the well-loved Logan McRae series of books. Stuart MacBride keeps his readers guessing with plot twists and red herrings galore; I completely failed to spot the identity of the killer until all was revealed in the last few chapters. I have only awarded four stars as it was quite slow to get going and I nearly gave up. I also found the fictitious setting unsatisfactory as the sense of place was nowhere near as strong as in the books set in Aberdeen. A common thread among reviewers is that the book is very long but considering it weaves together several complicated plot lines this is not surprising; it never seemed overlong to me as I was caught up in the narrative, hoping they would succeed and save Ashlee in time.
Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Another fantastic read from Stuart Macbride. He always manages perfectly straddle the line between hilarity and heart in the mouth tension. Great book.

5 stars from me!

I just didn't want this book to end! As much as I desperately wanted to know who the killer was, I felt like I could have kept on reading about these characters for ever.

Poor DC Callum MacGregor, sometimes life really does rain down on you from a great height doesn't it but he is such a fantastic character throughout this book, so well defined, and the fact he is essentially just a really decent guy radiates from the pages.

The 'Misfit Mob' have all the markings of being more than just a standalone - or maybe they will be the launchpad for a whole new series starring DC Callum MacGregor; I hope so. Mother and her little band of rejects make for a very interesting read.

I also love the parallels between these characters and earlier MacBride genius inventions. The bag of jellybabies is not lost on us.

Really good book, inventive story, interesting new characters and I simply didn't want to put it down.