Following a year of recuperation, DS Logan McRae is hoping for a slow return to the Aberdeen force. However, with the discovery of the body of a 3-year-old boy, McRae is thrust into a heartbreaking and horrific investigation. As the bodies begin piling up and several children go missing, the press is convinced that a serial killer is on the loose, and McRae will have to use all of his wits and experience to uncover the truth. Stone Granite was a first class read. Moreover, it was a great first book and has caused me to put many of MacBride's later books on my "to read" list. It features a young detective named Logan MacRae and is set in Aberdeen, Scotland. Stenhouse, David (2 May 2008). "One man's meat - Stuart MacBride interview". The Scotsman . Retrieved 9 November 2018. a b Arnold, Sue (11 July 2009). "Sue Arnold's choice: Blind Eye, written and read by Stuart MacBride". The Guardian. ProQuest 244422773. a b Prestridge, David (14 January 2016). "In the Cold Dark Ground» CRIME FICTION LOVER". crimefictionlover.com . Retrieved 12 November 2018.

This is a gritty and hard hitting novel, involving two different investigations, which somehow merge along the way. The first involves the fact that little boys are being abducted and killed. The second concerns the murder of a gangster, who has ended up in the river minus his kneecaps. Thrown into the deep end, McRae finds himself trying to solve the crimes, stay warm (which doesn't sound easy in the portrait the author paints of a freezing Aberdeen!) and try to discover who is leaking information to the press.McRae has been described as the "last bastion of sanity in the manic Aberdeen police department; [he is] surrounded by squabbling, heavy drinking, cursing and frequently incompetent fellow officers...." [6] For a debut novel, this is a decent effort, and I did enjoy it overall. However, it fell short of the mark in some areas for me. In particular, my feelings of confusion when the multiple cases began to blur has caused me to give this book a middling rating. Forshaw, Barry (17 May 2010). "Dark Blood, By Stuart MacBride". The Independent . Retrieved 10 November 2018.

Soon the dead are piling up in the morgue almost as fast as the snow on the streets, and Logan knows time is running out. More children are going missing. More are going to die. And if Logan isn’t careful, he could end up joining them. Next up was an elongated spell in Westhill -- a small suburb seven miles west of Aberdeen -- where I embarked upon a mediocre academic career, hindered by a complete inability to spell and an attention span the length of a gnat's doodad. Except that he appears to have achieved that at Sergeant level but still gets higher rank ahead of McRae.The book is pretty gritty in that it contains pretty gruesome details about the murders of children. As such, it is clearly not for the squeamish and I would warn you off if graphic detail bothers you. For those morbid souls, like me, who believe that such detail enhances a story, if done well, you are more likely to enjoy the book. A flashy journalist introduced in the first book, "Cold Granite" and who spars with McRae, [30] but they end up being friends despite Miller setting up home with Isobel McAlister and Miller losing his fingers to torture by a gangster, an event that he holds McRae responsible for. I admired DS McRae’s tenacity and perceptiveness under extremely tough conditions - it was he who made clever and unexpected links between bits of information and evidence, thus solving some cases that seems insoluble. Another aspect of the story I liked was the setting. It takes place in Aberdeen, Scotland, and the city itself truly becomes like a secondary character. The author intertwines the city, the weather, the regional slang, etc. with the story, and makes it come alive.

In addition to containing a damn good mystery story, Stone Granite is enfused (isn't that a great word!) with quite clever humor as well as a good deal about the town of Aberdeen and the differences between several of Scotland's larger cities. Being pretty ignorant about such things, I very much enjoyed their inclusion.It’s been a hot, humid August in Minnesota, and there’s nothing like a cold, wet thriller to chill me to the bone. Cold Granite certainly fits the bill! Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, is known as “the Granite City,” and statistically is the coldest city in the UK. I love a thriller where the weather almost becomes another character, and Mr. McBride certainly manages to make Mother Nature a key figure. If it’s not raining, it’s miserably damp and misty. If it’s not doing either of those, it’s snowing. Bob works in CID alongside McRae and is famed for his telephone manner and breaking wind in the office Turpin, Adrian (7 May 2006). "Grisly crime comes to life in the Granite City". The Sunday Times. ProQuest 316643839.