Detective Sergeant Logan (“Lazarus,” or just “Laz” for short) McRae, of the Grampian Police, has his first big case in six months. It’s been longer than that since his last, disastrous, one. And the present one isn’t going well.
There are actually two big cases going on. One has to do with a caravan full of heavy-duty firepower. And the fear is that there is a turf war in the offing. The second one poses a more imminent problem. Six businessmen in the area have been attacked, in the most horrific way imaginable, having their eyes gouged out and the optic nerve and eye sockets burned. All the victims have been Polish, indicative of the anger, resentment and just plain racism at work in the community, mirroring hate crimes arising out of the issue of immigration and hatred of immigrants, both legal and otherwise, extant in many parts of the world.
McRae lives and works in Aberdeen [the author's place of residence as well]. He is tempted to begin a new relationship with another member of the police force, but is a little out of practice. He also is hoping for a promotion, since a Detective Inspector is about to retire and McRae is one of three thought to be in line for the job. But first he must catch the man they call “Oedipus.” His DCI thinks he is a natural for it, given his “experience with serial weirdoes.”
Detective Inspector Steel is going through her own personal issues, describing herself as “a forty-three-year-old lesbian chain-smoker who swears like a f***ing sailor and boozes it up every night.” They make for an interesting team. Once again Mr. MacBride gives the reader a sometimes brutal but always interesting police procedural, sure to please his growing number of fans as well as gaining him new ones. Recommended.
