A landslip uncovers human bones – many human bones.

A heavily pregnant woman rushes outside to see her little boy standing at the edge of the cliff, mesmerised by the sight of a rescue helicopter trying to rescue four fishermen. She manages to grab her son just before the cliff gives way, smashing onto the boat. When she recovers from watching this awful occurrence, she notices dozens of bones – human bones embedded in the cliff.

Ex-DI Ash Henderson and his partner, Dr Alice McDonald, should be working on the serial kidnapping and murder of young boys. However, thanks to Ash’s previous history with Helen MacNeil – an exceedingly difficult ex-convict – he and Alice find themselves summoned to help with the bones’ discovery.

Ash and team leader, DI Malcolmson go into the cottage that belongs to Gordon Smith – the bones appear to be buried on his property – and discover a basement with before and after pictures of victims. Mostly young women. The after pictures show the results of being tortured by Gordon Smith.

I wish I had read the first two books in the series to know a bit more about Ash Henderson finding himself now working for the Lateral Investigative and Review Unit. Having said this, Stuart MacBride writes in such a way that picking up this book and following Ash Henderson and Alice McDonald was never a problem. He’s a brilliant author who manages to bring a lot of humour into what was a very dark plot of terrible crimes taking place over the years. Combined with the task of looking for the serial killer of the little boys, Ash Henderson and Alice McDonald need to keep their wits about them if they are going to get out of these investigations alive.

Rony

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

This my first Stuart MacBride book and coming into this in the middle of a series of books did have it's downsides. However, this did stand-alone pretty well and certainly gave me an insight into the series and author and left me with a taste for more.
Four stars from me.
It reminded me strongly, not least as they're both set in Scotland, of my absolute favourites Ian Rankin and Rebus. Although, they share the same skill of mixing humour with the crime, this is even darker and the characters grumpier!
A lot happens in this book pursuing two serial killers and there's plenty of action and a really clever crime scene set on a crumbling cliff. Hats off to the author for that one.
Many thanks for the ARC.

The title captures the essence of what this books is about as Stuart MacBride returns to his Ash Henderson series, set in Scotland. Ash is a former DI, working at the Lateral Investigative Review Unit (LIRU) with the heavy drinking forensic psychologist, Dr Alice McDonald.

It is reasonably paced, fully of bold characters, many grumpy, but equally hilarious at the same time, which balances the macabre of the gruesome murders found in a dilapidated house, built on a cliff crumbling into the sea. This causing a nightmare in terms of evidence gathering as the place is literally falling away under foot and not safe to be in.

It reminded me of the New Tricks TV series with some vintage staff, that rely on the old ways of doing things to get things done, often fleetingly crossing the line. Not everyone is a fan of the unit…
It is quite dialogue driven and in some regard protracted because of this. There are a lot human, life issues blended into the murder enquiry. There are cross connections made due to not only old cases, but Ash’s personal loss also. This is the 1st time I have read a book from this series and it did not hamper my ability to follow the story as a whole, although staunch readers will probably pick a lot more references to earlier instalments.
At times the book did drag a little, despite its pace. Noting that this is a substantial read it had nice short chapters to allow you to pick up and put down in 10-20 minute instalments. I wasn’t gripped to seek pick it back up, but I was taken on a chaotic journey every time I did. At times graphic, violent, humorous, rebellious, I imagine it will delight MacBride fans. Just shy of a 4 for me.

This was an incredibly stressful read- how can they not stabilise the cliff to retrieve the bodies? How could noone have noticed what was going on in the house at the edge of the cliff? why can the police not catch a break with the weather?!
A grisly case unfolding (and crashing to the sea) with time pressures that make Ash almost crazy in his actions trying to find both victims and perpetrator.
great read!

When a storm causes a partial cliff to collapse, Gordon Smith's garden reveals its dark secrets - an unknown number of human bodies buried in the cliffside. With the storm washing away the evidence and the crime scene too unsafe to investigate, Ash Henderson must use every resource at his disposal to find Gordon Smith before he kills again...

This was a well executed police procedural, even if it was a bit quip-heavy for my tastes at times. The author does a good job of bringing you into Ash Henderson's world whether or not you had read the previous books - I hadn't, but felt I had enough information to understand Ash and his relationships and motivations.

The book is definitely a slow burn to begin with, but once it gets going, it's well-paced. I did find the twist (no spoilers) a bit clunky, but general I enjoyed this procedural.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for providing me with a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When a storm hit the coast & a number of coastal properties crumble into the sea human bones are discovered in the rubble. Ash Henderson, former DI & working at the Lateral Investigative Review Unit (LIRU) - better known as the Missfit Mob becomes involved. A woman whose house looks pretty close to the edge demands the police investigate her missing granddaughter. The empty house next door reveals horrors in the basement & a child murderer have the press baying for blood. Ash Henderson, former DI & working at the Lateral Investigative Review Unit (LIRU) - better known as the Missfit Mob becomes involved.

I came to this book without having any idea of the Ash Henderson books. This was a bit of a shame because there was a lot of back story that would have been useful at the start. However I was soon totally under the spell of the terrific writing style of Stuart MacBride. It's gory, it's irreverent & full of dark humour & I loved it! Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this super book.

It took me a while to get into this book but once I did it is a totally explosive and I was literally holding my breath for at least two chapters. I need to read the other books preceeding this. I think the misfits are an excellent addition to the book.

I really enjoyed The Coffinmaker's Garden up until roughly the 50% mark, after which it jumped the shark with so many logical inconsistencies and so much plot convenience that I lost patience and investment in the book.
To further add to my annoyance, I regularly had the author's political opinions rammed down my throat, though they bore no relevance at all to the story. The identity of the child-murderer was glaringly obvious as soon as he was introduced and the protagonist then played dumb in order to stretch out the plot and not identify the culprit until the appropriately-timed climax. The protagonist acting out of character in order for the plot to progress is one of my pet hates in thrillers, and sadly this book sank to that level, earning it only 3* from me.

I am new to this series of books about a grumpy old Scottish detective and his side kick but coming late to the party did not detract from the story line. The author makes the all the characters to be very unlikeable but that is part of the story. It also paints Scotland in a downtrodden, run down way. That said, the story line kept me enthralled and to keep reading.

This was my first Stuart MacBride and it will not be my last!

This was dark, atmospheric, violent and fast paced, I had to keep turning the pages to discover what was going to happen next.

I wasn't too sure about Ash Henderson at the beginning but by the end, I absolutely loved him.

One thing I will say is it would be beneficial to read the first two books as there is obviously a lot of back story here ...so I obviously ordered them straight away!

Absolutely brilliant piece of writing. I'm off to read all of MacBrides work!!

Another story and another adventure for Ash Henderson. An investigation is underway into the disappearance of young boys. Ash is taken from this to check on a report of a skeleton found by a member of the public in a garden on a crumbling headland. On entering the house, Ash finds a cellar of horrors, leading to a new investigation and another serial killer.
The description of the storm meant you could really picture the conditions. There's a lot of gruesome images and violence, but you should expect that in this type of novel. You may also have to suspend belief when Ash goes off on his own, but an engaging read that kept a good pace.

It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last as it's an excellent story.
It's gritty, gripping, fast paced and highly entertaining.
I loved the style of writing and the excellent character development. The characters are very realistic and I felt for them.
The plot is full of twists and turns and I was on the edge till the last page.
I'm more than happy I read this book and I want to read the others by this author.
Strongly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Ex DI Ash Henderson has a killer to catch - a storm has all but destroyed a headland, but before it does, it has revealed human remains and a deeper darker secret. No one really know how many bodies were buried in Gordon Smith’s garden. And no one can find him to stop him from killing again.
Ash doesn’t care who gets in the way of his investigation - classic Stuart MacBride violence and dark humour.

I realise that starting to read a series on book 3 is probably not the best idea but having previously read and enjoyed some of Stuart MacBride's Logan McRae series, I thought what the heck and I certainly wasn't disappointed in the slightest and would definitely say this works as a standalone.

What we have here are 2 investigations that are equally disturbing and upsetting - a serial killer who has gone undetected for decades and a child killer who is refining his modus operandi with each innocent life he takes. Ash, in his role as consultant, is involved in both.

The characters are great - Ash, Alice, Mother, Shifty, DS Franklin and even Henry - all of them in fact, some may be a tad OTT or stereotypical but all had their place and their own little quirks which made them believable. The various settings were really well written with the scenes being so well written that they invoked sounds and smells that put me right there.

The book is written mainly from Ash's point of view. He can be a cynical and grumpy so-and-so and definitely doesn't do things by the books and does have questionable decision-making skills at times, but he definitely grew on me; I think it was his dark sense of humour that did it but also his aversion to authority who have been so far removed from the job that they haven't got a clue helped a bit ... oh and the fact that he certainly gets put through the wringer by Mr MacBride during his investigation and from what has obviously gone on in the previous books in the series, which might have had something to do with it too!

With the story lines being as dark as they are, you might think this is a dark and depressing read but fear not, this is not the case at all. Yes, as you can imagine, it's not a laugh a minute and there is quite a lot of violence throughout but there are plenty of lighter moments that will have you laughing out loud. You do have to suspend reality for some parts of the book as there are bits that are a little unbelievable but if you can't do this in a work of fiction, when can you? and it certainly didn't spoil my reading experience.

All in all, a really great book and one I would highly recommend to those of you who love their crime thrillers dark both in the plot and the humour.

Thanks to HarperCollins / HarperFiction and NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.

Five stars for the Coffin maker's Garden. Take a bow Mr MacBride.
The third book in the Ash Henderson series (do not read it unless you have read the first two), is atmospheric, scary, darkly humerous and completely unputdownable. I am exhausted after being total absorbed by it for the last few days. I felt every punch, drank every drink, shivered at the driving storm etc. etc.
All the characters have a story to tell and likeable or unlikeable alike, I want to know more about them. Please don't stop at three.

Well this one was a funny one for me! The story was great. Really original and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Lots of twists and turns I didn't see coming!

However it took me weeks to read and the reason is because I felt keenly that having not read the first books in the series put me at a huge disadvantage. It is definitely possible to read this stand alone but I wish I had read the first books in the series first as the history of the characters is referred to so frequently.

As I got towards the end I found it easier to read but a real challenge solely because I hadn't read the earlier books. I will be going back to read them because the story itself was really fantastic and I want to know more about the characters!

Well this is a book with everything in it and more besides. A large list of characters from both sides of the law, two murder investigations, relationships, violence, deduction and a scotty dog!
The main character is Ash Henderson, ex DI, who seems to have an interesting back story which is referred to in this book. That does not detract from this story in fact it makes me want to read the earlier books to fill in the details.
Ash was determined to get his man and was not going to let his various setbacks put him off, the story twists and turns and I wondered how it may end.
The end was satisfying and all loose ends were covered which is always a bonus in my eyes.

Wow! I really don’t know what to say about this book. It’s the first one I have read by this author, and I will certainly be reading more! This was fantastic, I was gripped from the outset. Brilliant storyline, fantastic characters, and an ending that I did not see coming! Highly recommended.

This third book in the Ash Henderson series, has Ash and Dr Alice McDonald switched from their current investigation hunting a child killer to assist another team.
A helicopter attempting to rescue a boat floundering in stormy seas close to an unstable cliff near the village of Clachmara.
As chunks of the cliff side give way, crumbling into the sea, the headland takes with it the garden of one of the houses.
The scene that is revealed is even more terrifying than the ferocious storm.
Bones, and lots of them.
In a race against the elements Ash riskily decides to check out whats left of the property .
What he discovers in the cellar points to this quickly becoming the hunt for a serial killer.
An action packed read, plenty of twists and although gruesome and gritty I loved the humour the author injected which made me laugh out loud at times.
Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for the chance to read this book, so easy to recommend.

This is the first Ash Henderson story I’ve read and I absolutely loved it. Whilst I don’t know the character relationships as much, having not read the first two, I was able to understand the extent of their connections straight away. The last 25% had me on edge, it was incredibly exciting and I’ll be sure to go back and read the first two!