Broken Skin

Logan McRae, Book 3

By: Stuart MacBride

Narrated by: Steve Worsley

Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

The number one best-selling crime series from the award-winning Stuart MacBride. In this third DS Logan McRae thriller, the Granite City's seedy side is about to be exposed....

A serial rapist is leaving a string of tortured women behind him, but while DS Logan McRae's girlfriend, PC Jackie 'Ball Breaker' Watson, is out acting as bait, he's trying to identify a blood-drenched body dumped outside Accident and Emergency.

Logan's investigations suggest someone in the local bondage community has developed a taste for violent death, and he soon finds himself dragged into the twilight world of pornographers, sex-shops and S&M.

Meanwhile, the prime suspect in the rape case turns out to be Aberdeen Football Club's star striker. Logan thinks they've got it horribly wrong, but Jackie is convinced the footballer's guilty and she's hell-bent on a conviction at any cost....

©2007 Stuart MacBride (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Compelling reading...a tribute to MacBride's storytelling skill." ( Sunday Telegraph)

"Grim, gritty and great fun." ( Daily Sport)

"Fierce, unflinching and shot through with the blackest of humour; this is crime fiction of the highest order." (Mark Billingham)

Whine... Whine... Whine... Whine... !!!!

Everyone is put upon. Everyone's a moping victim. Everyone's on everyone else's case. What's happened to Logan McRae? His associates? This is the world's most dysfunctional squad of screw-ups - and not for any comic purpose. So much unresolved tension and contention. Will this ever end? Well for me it ends with this installment of the world's whiniest cop squat. Yeah, they resolve murders but only at the expense of their ghastly interpersonal messes. Is Scotland this depressing? Go Away!!!

Wonderful trip to Aberdeen!

Great story, fun and quirky characters. Performance by Steve Worsley is flawless as always. Well worth a listen!

could be bad for my health

I will be starting my fourth book in this series. I am becoming sleep deprived because I can't stop listening/reading Stuart MacBride. He is quickly becoming one of my 15 favorite authors. I will sleep, wake up and listen more, sleep-wake up,listen, sleep, wake up listen, etc. With all the suspense, twist and turns , skipping ahead, missing a page meant I had to go back and recover pages to keep from missing the best parts (every chapter and page ) is loaded with those parts.. Love a book that keeps me on my toes from beginning to end. Stuart MacBride delivers
Yes, I totally enjoyed the first 3 books, I am looking forward to listening to the next 9.
Number 4 is waiting for me. I will say nothing about the book subject. There have been a few times I've read reviews giving away the best parts. I can say for me, Mr. MacBride books are not for the faint hearted, they are by all accounts murder/mystery, with police officers much like real people in a very real world. Solving crimes, with never ending old/new cases, and solving personal crisis that invade their lives.
OK, done, I am off to listen to book 4.

Worth it just for Steel

Another solid installment in the series. I love the humor relief in this book. SM does it better than anyone else. Detectives need a way to lighten the mood more than most. And Roberta Steel is the best in the biz lol. On to the next one..

Another fantastic read

Thoroughly enjoyed McRae's adventures, the descriptive writing of the author and passion of the narrator has me hooked!

Excellent Series

The only thing I don’t like about this series is knowing I will eventually finish it.

The plot and performance are excellent! Though the stories can be dark and disturbing, I laugh out loud at DI Steele’s comments.

Very enjoyable

Excellent story and superbly well performed. I plan to listen to the whole series. Bravo!

Slight spoiler, info that is later in the book

Does mr. Macbride have children I wonder? I found the story of the 8 year old boy unbelievable and the way they treated that crime. I'm not sure Ivey ever even heard of that type of murder by a child that young. If so, it's handled very differently than I believe they handled it. Of course, I'm in the US... but still locking an 8 year old up until he is 30? I doubt that entire narrative. I hope in the future me. Macbride does more research on child crime. The way they manhandled him etc....sorry I didn't buy it. Not 8. I have a grandson 8 years old. I know what they are capable of. Certainly not this kind of crime.even IF he could we don't treat children like adult criminals...he was even a teen.
As anyone who has read mr macbride knows these are great books. Don't hesitate because of minor flaws. I just wanted to point that out because it bothered me. Otherwise great narration, fascinating story. Enjoy.

Greatest series ever!!!

These books are mysteries built around a hilarious cast of policemen and policewomen, some good and effective (the main character) and the others are bumbling around to the chagrin of the main character, Logan. Love, love these books, you will not be disappointed!!

Probably my last for this author

Initially I thought I might like this series but I'm close to the end of this book and I find that I just do not care how it ends anymore. The main character and his girlfriend have become disgustingly unlikeable. They are corrupt and don't belong on any police force, anywhere.

"Spoiler Alert" I mean how is it ok for the police to raid an illegal video store and then all of them pass around the videos to watch? If it's illegal for the store owner to rent them out then they should be locked away in an evidence locker and not viewed by anyone. Instead everyone on the force are checking them out and taking them home to watch with their families. Also, the MC thinks his girlfriend has committed a serious offence and he doesn't make her tell him what she did when she insists that he give her an alibi?? Instead he's just going to go along with it. Ridiculous! Anyway those are just a couple of examples. I also don't like all of the body shaming that the author uses as "humor" or the way he views women in general. And I can't stand how he has to keep telling everyone that you don't have the right to a lawyer in Scotland. Maybe that 's true but if someone refuses to speak to the police what else are they going to do? It implies that there could be police brutality or at the very least unlawful imprisonment. Overall I think this book sends a bad message to the public and about the Scottish police.

Steve Worsley is still an awesome narrator and I would be happy to find another series that he reads.

Simply Brilliant

I believe this is my favourite book so far. Logan and Detective Steele are great characters. Would definitely recommend this book. You won't put it down

Always a great read (listen)

Another great Logan McRae story from the brilliant mind of Stuart MacBride, well recommended to anyone

loved it!

Perfectly narrated great story, made me laugh and grimace in equal amounts. D S Steel is a legend! Hooked on the series, my new favourite soap.

DCI 'Steels' the show!

Great storyline. The characters come to life brilliantly. Loving DCI Steel's one-liners and put-downs. She injects real humour into the gruesome backdrop.

Still not as good as the first book

The narration was excellent and I enjoyed listening to the book, however I had some reservations about this book. The characters have become more extreme and less believable in each book. The main characters had a sense of gloom and desperation hanging over them throughout the book and a number of police officers lacked integrity and made reckless decisions which were out of character and not credible.

For the most part I thought the author tackled the BDSM aspect of the book in a fair and open minded way, but the conclusion of that aspect of the plot was very disappointing and was not well researched.

I intend to read the next book in the series, in the hope that it will be more believable and a bit more cheerful than this one.

Exquisite!

Can't get enough of Stuart MacBride. Incredible characters, flawless stories and Steve Worsley's narrating just makes the whole thing perfect.

maybe a tad long

The action seemed to drag slightly as obvious twists and turns unravel. The final twist I did not spot as I had started to lose interest in the major characters and the violence that seemed to come their way. I had a few rests from the story as I began to wonder if the behaviour was credible. But it is detective story so I got what I paid for.

Another winner

Once again author and narrator have a winning combination, Steve Worsley brings alive all the correctors that Stuart Macbride conjures up and encloses you in the story

Another Brilliant Book

Really happy I found this series. Really enjoy Detective books and this does not disappoint.

Great characters, excellent storylines and hilarious at times.

not quite as expected. but implausible

struggled with the fact that just 1 sergeant has to work with 2 obnoxious Inspectors and it becomes a little hard to imagine as time goes on as to how he is bullied by both of them.