Cold Granite

Logan McRae, Book 1

By: Stuart MacBride

Narrated by: Steve Worsley

Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Stuart MacBride's number one best-selling crime series opens with this award-winning debut.

DS Logan McRae and the police in Aberdeen hunt a child killer who stalks the frozen streets.

Winter in Aberdeen: murder, mayhem and terrible weather...

It's DS Logan McRae's first day back on the job after a year off on the sick, and it couldn't get much worse. Three-year-old David Reid's body is discovered in a ditch: strangled, mutilated and a long time dead. And he's only the first. There's a serial killer stalking the Granite City, and the local media are baying for blood.

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.

©2006 Stuart MacBride (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

Great Story -- But NOT For The Faint Of Heart!

If you like the writing style of Tony Parsons' DC Wolfe series starting with, The Murder Bag, or John Verdon's Dave Gurney's novels starting with, Think of a Number, then this will probably be a book you enjoy. However, if you like a story without the gruesome descriptions painted in vivid detail then skip this read. The narration by Worsley is top notch. His tone, pitch, emotion and voice ranges makes the story even better. The quality of the recording is professional.

The character development is written well and sets up the series. The story is fairly complex and left me wondering & trying to guess whats happenes next. At times, I guessed correctly but still enjoyed how the author led me there. The character interaction and dialog has a wide range of emotions.

Without spoilers, skip this if you're looking for an action-packed read, or a police procedural without the vivid descriptions of events and characters you're made to hate and detest.

I rated the story four stars because the gore is more than necessary, but the quality of the narration is a solid five star. I will definitely be listening to the next MacBride book and will listen to anything by Worsley.

Just too grisly

Couldn't finish. The gory details in the autopsy room were just too much and IMO gratuitous. Too bad because I was interested in the plot and the characters.

Violence and children don’t mix.

I’ve read a few books in the Logan McRae series and enjoyed them so much I ordered several more at the same time. Unfortunately I didn’t take time to read the subject matter. For me children and violence don’t mix. I skipped chapter after chapter because I just couldn’t listen. Usually I’m not squeamish but this book went too far. I’ll read other books in the series but this one wasn’t for me.

Great new series to start reading

This book came up as a suggestion in Audible, when I was finishing another book. Decided to follow the Audible recommendation ( not the first time, I have been very happy with what Audible is suggesting to me.
I expected this to be a typical murder investigation, depressed police man who drinks to much 😊 ( yes the location in north scotland ).
This book took me by surprice, it provided much more what I was looking for. Interesting characters, interesting and complex murder plot, etc ( yes I grew up reading Agatha Christie 😊 ). Wheather it is DI Inch, PC Watchon, or any if the other characters from the book. Similary in a aprox 14 hour audio book, the plot is unfolding during the last 3 hours ( not only the last 30 minutes as I see to many times ).
Definently will look for more books from this serie.

Good debut police procedural but be forewarned.

I am of mixed minds about this book. On the one hand, the prose is good, and I liked getting to know Logan McRae. He is a good detective who places the welfare of the community above his own. He doesn't care for the politics of the police hierarchy, who find reasons to come down on him. The mystery is acceptably treated as a suspenseful police procedural. Although I have patience with this genre, the book dragged along with silly, rather childish romantic asides. Nor do I have to know what each meal consisted of. It could easily have been 25% shorter without loss.

However, the main reason I have mixed feelings is that it describes the killing of children in gory detail. The author does not have to convince me that a killer of 3- and 4-year old children is mentally ill, and, while he may want me to know the extent of the mutilation, he need not have characters dwell on it.

Another shortcoming is that, even though police do not normally carry guns, at least twice, Logan left his office without backup and without any weapons to drive to a place which he anticipated might be dangerous. As often as not, he suffered from life-threatening altercations as a result.

Steve Worsley reads the book well and give different voices to the characters. He even manages female voices pretty well.

As the debut volume by this author (back in 2005), I certainly recognize that he shows promise, and I may try him again. However, if future volumes in this series are similar to this one, I think I'll take a pass and opt for a cozy mystery. Those readers who like thrillers and don't mind horror (another genre I avoid) will no doubt have a contrary opinion.

Gratuitous violence/depravity towards children

I tried to listen to this book. Almost made it to the end but the gratuitous violence and depraved descriptions of acts done to little children became too much to handle. Also the descriptions of vileness and gore of dead animals began making me sick to my stomach. Do yourself a favor and skip this one

New for me...

I think this was a bit slow to start for me but picked up. People complained the story was gruesome, that it was too much BUT, unfortunately crimes like what is portrayed in this novel is what our society is like.
I enjoyed the characters, the true to life story line, by the end, I couldn't stop too I finished it!
I loved the fact that everything was concluded and didn't leave you wondering what happened.

Predictable

When I can spot flaws in the police procedures and their approach then the author is sloppy in some way. I don't think the author gave the readers enough credit for basic smarts in solving a crime. I also didn't love how weak Logan seemed to be as a character. I like to get connected and invested in the characters so I want to see what they do next. This makes me want to skip to a later novel and see if the author's writing gets better.

I liked this one

Intelligent, chock full of interesting characters who "look like cast of Deliverance" as they bear up under winter's rain, snow, wind and cold. The bits of humor wing through when one least expects them. Listen closely, the author entertains from first page to last. And the setting is Scotland. So interesting.

Give this a listen -- it's amazing

As mentioned in several other reviews, there is some gore here. But I would absolutely encourage anyone who loves a good police procedural, a clever mystery, and a smart, quirky central character, to give this their attention. The gore isn't gratuitous...it's meant to (and does) bring home the gravitas of the underlying crimes and what galvanizes the good guys to do what they do.

If you really don't have the stomach to handle the descriptions (and even as an obsessed and decades-long crime novel enthusiast, there were at least two descriptions that made me cringe), just skip forward about 60 seconds once the post mortem(s) begins. The author is kind enough to telegraph when the bad bits are coming. And it is more than worth it to stick with this book.

The characters are almost all loveable, eventually (even if you want to kick a few of them upon first encounter). McRae is clever and imminently likable -- in his own head enough to orient the audience to follow his skill and reasoning, but blessedly NOT another tragic (or trite), brilliant detective who spends half the novel trying to get out of his own way and/or a whiskey bottle before getting on with his job. The surrounding minor characters are all excellent compliments and foils, grounding McRae in an atmosphere of realistic office life and politics, and making everything just awkward enough to cast the hero as a flawed human being. WPC Watson is herself enough of a reason to fall in love with this book.

I won't lie and say that there weren't certain things and incidents that made me want to smack everyone involved -- McRae's occasional mooning over his ex (somehow the most unlikable and inappropriate pathologist I believe I've ever come across as a character) being the blaring example. But I was, frankly, almost shocked by how well Stuart MacBride managed to conclude absolutely everything.

I was also exceedingly impressed by MacBride's ability to craft the underlying motivations and circumstances that created the troubled minds inhabiting this story. Without being conciliatory, he makes it possible to track and at least partially understand how and why things happened as they did. The good guys mostly win, but it isn't a cheap, cartoonish victory over a pantomime villain.

I'm so glad I stumbled upon this series. The author is amazing, and narrator Steve Worsley does a commendable job -- the characters are distinct, but not overly theatrical -- giving the words life, but allowing the listener to still "direct" the story in his/her mind.

Brilliant

Brilliant story,humorous and entertaining. Well read.
Great writer,enjoyed every twist and turn. Looking forward to reading other books by this author.

A little bit predictable

Toward the end, I was ready for this book to be over. I worked it out and began to find it a bit long-winded. But that said, for some reason I have already listened to Blind Eye, which is another Logan Mc Rae from further ahead in the series and had enjoyed it. So now that the series is becoming available from the beginning I had to go there. I prefer to read in order and this one puts some of the background in place.

As has previously been mentioned, the plot line includes children on the receiving end of mis-doings so there are some discomforts and you might not want to put this one on in the kitchen whilst preparing dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets. The F word features too.

But this is a great book. Undemanding, straightforward crime thriller. Easy to follow. Satisfying ending. I've just downloaded the next one.

Brilliant

loved it characters really well described kept wanting to go on .
in fact lost sleep over listening to it !
lots of puzzles to work through

Finally! The unabridged edition arrives!!!

I don't listen to unabridged Audible recordings. If I'm going to listen to a story, I want to hear the whole story, not what an editor decides I should hear. I love the Logan McRae series and have listened to all except the abridged recordings. Stuart MacBride and the Logan McRae series is too good to miss a moment. Please Mr. MacBride, keep them coming!

Gripping...

My first book by Stuart McBride, and I certainly enjoyed it. Cold Granite is the story of a police hunt for a serial killer who has been targeting children on the streets of Glasgow. Gripping, the story moves along at a good pace and is rather chilling at times. Some interesting characters, and I enjoyed Logan McRae as the lead person in the story. I'll certainly be looking for more in the Logan McRae series.
Well narrated by Steve Worsley.

Cold Granite

I read the paperback when it first came out and I wanted to listen to the following novels so decided to remind myself of the plot and Lazarus Logan. Therefore I knew that the book contained graphic gory details and child abuse. It is dark and some descriptive passages are gritty.

I found the book itself to be slow burner with many plots and subplots which all tied up nicely at the end.

On the whole I found myself really not caring about some of the characters and I had to go back a chapter or two when my mind wandered. I also found the repetition of some phrases to be annoying and distracting.

Coming from Aberdeen I recognised all the places mentioned- I've a sneaking suspicion that's why I read the book in the first place - and the weather was described accurately. Pity we don't get snow like that any more!

Would I read the rest now after becoming aquatinted with Logan again? Don't know, I think I've a lot more gripping edge of seat stuff waiting to be read in my library So I may wait till I've read them first.

The narrator did his best and I enjoyed the odd bit of 'Doric' thrown in and yes I would listen to him again.

Not one for the squeamish

Where does Cold Granite rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

A good storyline if, for me, a bit spoiled by the language used

What did you like best about this story?

A gritty story with characters who are fallible and believable

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Laughter and tears are to be found within this story

usual excellent standard from this author

Stuart Mcbride delivers again , a story of twists and turns backed by superb narration

A good listen

I really enjoyed the narrator. Book was good although a little slow in places am looking forward to hearing the next in the series

Cold Granite

Really enjoyed listening to this audio, great story and good characters. The reader was also very good at portraying the different characters. Will be continuing with the next in the series.