"This gutsy, atmospheric, hugely entertaining crime thriller comes with the LoveReading Star Book stamp of approval."
Outrageously good reading entertainment awaits in this punchy, smirky, dark crime thriller set in Scotland. Ex-DI Ash Henderson from the Lateral Investigative and Review Unit finds himself working two cases after human remains are found in a garden that is collapsing into the sea. Ash has previously been central to two of the Oldcastle Novels by Stuart MacBride, do you need to have read the other Ash Henderson thrillers first? I really think you do, as though it is possible to read The Coffinmaker’s Garden as a standalone, you will miss out if you don’t know the back story. I threw all my thoughts and knowledge out of the window as I read and just enjoyed the spunky characters and blood-tingling plot. Spinning between the two investigations kept my armchair-sleuth thoughts from settling too deeply. Instead I rode the wave, fell for the repartee and characters, and found my eyebrows more than once shooting skywards. A round of applause to Stuart MacBride for ensuring a balance between the horror and tragedy of the storyline with the humour that peppers the pages (the inventive insults are hugely diverting). The Coffinmaker’s Garden played out in gloriously vivid colour in my mind, atmospheric and gripping, this is a corker of a read and comes with the LoveReading Star Book stamp of approval.
| Primary Genre | Crime and Mystery |
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A criminal investigation full of plots, twists and detail which is told with a rich sense of dark humour.
The foreboding tempest in desolated coastal north-eastern Scotland sets the scene for the awful story of murder and abuse. The atmosphere is maintained right through to the end by both the author with many short-clipped paragraphs, rapidly moving scenes and the bull in a china shop nature of the central character Ash Henderson.
The gripping nature of the story is maintained by the writing style which includes frequent flashes of dark humour.
The plot and the personal sacrifices of the main characters are developed at a slow detailed pace which is at a positive contrast to the style.... Read Full Review
This novel is well written and moves along at a good pace. A satisfactory ending. I would look for others by this author
I have never read any books by this author before but I would certainly read more. The novel is well written and moves along at a good pace. I feel that a previous knowledge of the characters would have been useful as there are references to their back stories but, having said that, the book can be enjoyed as a single story.
The book begins as a cliff is being washed away by the weather and reveals human bones in the soil. Ash and his colleague, Alice, are already involved in an investigation and he is reluctant to become involved. Their search of the house reveals more sinister events and is linked to the search foe a missing girl, Leah MacNeil.
The characters are clearly well established and both investigations are finished in a satisfactory way.... Read Full Review
A really gritty crime thriller!
This is a really gritty crime thriller, featuring Ash Henderson, a maverick ex Detective Inspector, who now works as a consultant to the Scottish police force. In this novel he is working with his faithful sidekick Dr Alice McDonald, a forensic psychologist, helping the police in their search for two serial killers. Ash breaks all the rules (as you would expect) and gets himself into some highly dangerous situations.
There is a lot of violence in this story and all the characters are well drawn and interesting, although thoroughly unlikeable. When I started this book I hadn’t realised that Ash Henderson was an established character who had featured in previous Stuart Macbride books. Although this is a stand alone novel, I would have got into it sooner and enjoyed it more if I had read the previous ones.... Read Full Review
