A Dark So Deadly

By: Stuart MacBride

Narrated by: Steve Worsley

A gripping standalone thriller from the Sunday Times No.1 bestselling author of the Logan McRae series.

Beware of the dark…

Welcome to the Misfit Mob – where Police Scotland dumps the officers it can’t get rid of, but wants to. Officers like DC Callum MacGregor, lumbered with all the boring go-nowhere cases. So when an ancient mummy is found at the Oldcastle tip, it’s his job to track down its owner.

But then Callum uncovers links between his mummified corpse and three missing young men, and life starts to get a lot more interesting.

No one expects the Misfit Mob to solve anything, but right now they’re all that stands between a killer’s victims and a slow lingering death. Can they prove everyone wrong before someone else dies?

©2017 Stuart MacBride (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Dark and gripping. A riveting page-turner." ( Independent on Sunday)
"MacBride is a damned fine writer." (Peter James)
"A satisfyingly compelling thriller." ( Sunday Mirror)
"Skilful storytelling...strong characterisation...both intriguing and engrossing." ( Guardian)
"MacBride's thrillers just keep getting better." ( Express)
"Exciting ...a guaranteed bestseller." ( Literary Review)
"Unmissable.... Superb storytelling." ( Sun)
"Crime fiction of the highest order." (Mark Billingham)
"A terrific writer...Logan McRae is a delight." ( The Times)

A bit far-fetched...

...and drawn out, but I love his humor. The narrator is very good. You tell which character is speaking without him using phony voices like others might.

Another good outing by Stuart MacBride

This one has a few too many coincidences for my taste, but still, it is a rollicking good story and well told as always. Lots of gritty details about life in contemporary Scotland.

Great surprises all around!

I've read a bunch of Logan's stories, all but the last one. When I got this I was upset it wasn't one. But having finished it I'm now convinced that Mr. McBride couldn't write a bad novel if he tried. The ending blew me away! I do still prefer Logan's tales because I know the characters so well. But I won't hesitate to reading/hearing anything he writes.

Family Matters

Twisty, turny, quirky and utterly delightful. Not for the squeamish or readers preferring cozies. Worsley excellent voice actor - nuanced and talented. First McBride I've read, but plan to dive into others available through Audible. Hunker down and hang on - a helluva ride!

Deranged and Murder-ey

If you could sum up A Dark So Deadly in three words, what would they be?

Macabre, Clever, Hilarious

Any additional comments?

Meet the Misfit Mob: a senior officer with coronary problems, a haiku-spouting detective sergeant with terminal cancer and a literary bent, a couple more with anger management issues, a recently disabled female DC who calls her wheelchair Keith, and our hero, Callum MacGregor, wrongly accused of corruption, which is just the first and least of his problems.

MacBride packs a lot into this one, and this is the first time I've balked at a few of the plot twists, which were a little hard to swallow, but who cares? The cast is entertainingly quirky, the hero a classicly imperfect good soul in the mold of my beloved Logan MacCrea, the story is character driven, and while the horror is worthy of the latest M Night Shyamalan movie the oh-so-Scottish humor and dialogue kept me listening nonstop and laughing out loud.

True MacBride fans will also savor the nuggets from other books that pop up with a wink and a nod: the return of Alice, (yay!!) mad profiler from the Ash Henderson novels; a band called Halfhead; a records keeper named Winston Smith (check your Orwell), an oil painting of a pear tree (12 Days of Xmas). As His Beardiness Himself would say, it's all deranged and murder-ey. A bit more scrambled than usual but still tasty. Loved it.

Great book, although some places far fetched

This book wont bore you thats for sure. Its well written too. Some places are a bit far fetched but hey, its entertainment.
The negative of this book is his partner. She is a feminist, which so am i, but to the point she really makes us look like bitches. She is mean, and a man hater. She never shows a soft side....ever. I dont understand putting a character like her in this otherwise great story.
Oh well. You wont regret your credit spent.

A Dark So Deadly

Stuart MacBride is an exceptional writer. His stories are full of wonderful characters that bring range and depth of emotion into some very intense situations. I haven’t had this much fun with a series in a long time. MacBride has mastered the balance of tragedy and comic relief.

Loved it...

Wonderful stuff, dark, but hysterical...great writing, solid character development and perfect narration...hope there’s several more to come!

So good!

After a slow start (at least for me) this was 20+ hours of listening pleasure! The Misfits are a great group of characters and they are certainly characters! Each is in the squad for some prior mistake/indiscretion/medical condition but they're all good cops. There are several storylines going on here. They tend to make me think I have things figured out and then Wham! something else happens. This was terrific!

I didn't want it to end!

The narration was good. The production had some flaws - it sounded like a different narrator at Chapter 33. At one point I swear MacGregor was called "DS MacGregor."

Stuart MacBride is at his brilliant best here. All emotions come into play. I certainly hope we have more of these misfit coppers to look forward to. In addition to Logan and Steele.

Good Concept...

Convoluted with too many stereotypes for individuals and subplots. Not a total loss. Some very entertaining moments with laugh out loud dark humor. 10-12 hrs would have been plenty...