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Logan McRae #6.5-7.5
Partners in Crime
Two bloody brilliant short stories from No. 1 bestselling crime writer Stuart MacBride, featuring DS Logan McRae and his boss DI Steel
STRAMASH:Something fishy is happening on the isle of Jura.DS Logan McRae gets a phone call from DI Steel ordering him to come to the island at once. One freezing night’s sleep in a hatchback and two storm-battered ferries later, Logan arrives – but there’s no sign of Steel.She's lumped him in the middle of a policing nightmare, with bodies, and bullets, and tiny wee boats. And a dangerous hard man who’s meant to be dead…
DI STEEL’S BAD HEIR DAY:Why is DI Steel in an even worse mood than usual?Is it because it’s Christmas? Or maybe it's because the missing persons case she’s just caught looks like a hoax from a mile off? Or is it because she’s just been left a huge amount of money…?One thing’s for certain: Steel’s having a bad day, and she’s hell bent on making sure Constable Guthrie has one too.
STRAMASH:Something fishy is happening on the isle of Jura.DS Logan McRae gets a phone call from DI Steel ordering him to come to the island at once. One freezing night’s sleep in a hatchback and two storm-battered ferries later, Logan arrives – but there’s no sign of Steel.She's lumped him in the middle of a policing nightmare, with bodies, and bullets, and tiny wee boats. And a dangerous hard man who’s meant to be dead…
DI STEEL’S BAD HEIR DAY:Why is DI Steel in an even worse mood than usual?Is it because it’s Christmas? Or maybe it's because the missing persons case she’s just caught looks like a hoax from a mile off? Or is it because she’s just been left a huge amount of money…?One thing’s for certain: Steel’s having a bad day, and she’s hell bent on making sure Constable Guthrie has one too.
50 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 22, 2012
159 people are currently reading
918 people want to read
About the author
Stuart MacBride
87 books2,727 followersAka Stuart B. MacBride
The life and times of a bearded write-ist.
Stuart MacBride (that's me) was born in Dumbarton -- which is Glasgow as far as I'm concerned -- moving up to Aberdeen at the tender age of two, when fashions were questionable. Nothing much happened for years and years and years: learned to play the recorder, then forgot how when they changed from little coloured dots to proper musical notes (why the hell couldn't they have taught us the notes in the first bloody place? I could have been performing my earth-shattering rendition of 'Three Blind Mice' at the Albert Hall by now!); appeared in some bizarre World War Two musical production; did my best to avoid eating haggis and generally ran about the place a lot.
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.
And so to UNIVERSITY, far too young, naive and stupid to be away from the family home, sharing a subterranean flat in one of the seedier bits of Edinburgh with a mad Irishman, and four other bizarre individuals. The highlight of walking to the art school in the mornings (yes: we were students, but we still did mornings) was trying not to tread in the fresh bloodstains outside our front door, and dodging the undercover CID officers trying to buy drugs. Lovely place.
But university and I did not see eye to eye, so off I went to work offshore. Like many all-male environments, working offshore was the intellectual equivalent of Animal House, only without the clever bits. Swearing, smoking, eating, more swearing, pornography, swearing, drinking endless plastic cups of tea... and did I mention the swearing? But it was more money than I'd seen in my life! There's something about being handed a wadge of cash as you clamber off the minibus from the heliport, having spent the last two weeks offshore and the last two hours in an orange, rubber romper suit / body bag, then blowing most of it in the pubs and clubs of Aberdeen. And being young enough to get away without a hangover.
Then came a spell of working for myself as a graphic designer, which went the way of all flesh and into the heady world of studio management for a nation-wide marketing company. Then some more freelance design work, a handful of voiceovers for local radio and video production companies and a bash at being an actor (with a small 'a'), giving it up when it became clear there was no way I was ever going to be good enough to earn a decent living.
It was about this time I fell into bad company -- a blonde from Fife who conned me into marrying her -- and started producing websites for a friend's fledgling Internet company. From there it was a roller coaster ride (in that it made a lot of people feel decidedly unwell) from web designer to web manager, lead programmer, team lead and other assorted technical bollocks with three different companies, eventually ending up as a project manager for a global IT company.
But there was always the writing (well, that's not true, the writing only started two chapters above this one). I fell victim to that most dreadful of things: peer pressure. Two friends were writing novels and I thought, 'why not? I could do that'.
Took a few years though...
The life and times of a bearded write-ist.
Stuart MacBride (that's me) was born in Dumbarton -- which is Glasgow as far as I'm concerned -- moving up to Aberdeen at the tender age of two, when fashions were questionable. Nothing much happened for years and years and years: learned to play the recorder, then forgot how when they changed from little coloured dots to proper musical notes (why the hell couldn't they have taught us the notes in the first bloody place? I could have been performing my earth-shattering rendition of 'Three Blind Mice' at the Albert Hall by now!); appeared in some bizarre World War Two musical production; did my best to avoid eating haggis and generally ran about the place a lot.
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.
And so to UNIVERSITY, far too young, naive and stupid to be away from the family home, sharing a subterranean flat in one of the seedier bits of Edinburgh with a mad Irishman, and four other bizarre individuals. The highlight of walking to the art school in the mornings (yes: we were students, but we still did mornings) was trying not to tread in the fresh bloodstains outside our front door, and dodging the undercover CID officers trying to buy drugs. Lovely place.
But university and I did not see eye to eye, so off I went to work offshore. Like many all-male environments, working offshore was the intellectual equivalent of Animal House, only without the clever bits. Swearing, smoking, eating, more swearing, pornography, swearing, drinking endless plastic cups of tea... and did I mention the swearing? But it was more money than I'd seen in my life! There's something about being handed a wadge of cash as you clamber off the minibus from the heliport, having spent the last two weeks offshore and the last two hours in an orange, rubber romper suit / body bag, then blowing most of it in the pubs and clubs of Aberdeen. And being young enough to get away without a hangover.
Then came a spell of working for myself as a graphic designer, which went the way of all flesh and into the heady world of studio management for a nation-wide marketing company. Then some more freelance design work, a handful of voiceovers for local radio and video production companies and a bash at being an actor (with a small 'a'), giving it up when it became clear there was no way I was ever going to be good enough to earn a decent living.
It was about this time I fell into bad company -- a blonde from Fife who conned me into marrying her -- and started producing websites for a friend's fledgling Internet company. From there it was a roller coaster ride (in that it made a lot of people feel decidedly unwell) from web designer to web manager, lead programmer, team lead and other assorted technical bollocks with three different companies, eventually ending up as a project manager for a global IT company.
But there was always the writing (well, that's not true, the writing only started two chapters above this one). I fell victim to that most dreadful of things: peer pressure. Two friends were writing novels and I thought, 'why not? I could do that'.
Took a few years though...
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March 31, 2021
EXCERPT: December 23rd
'Sod . . .' DI Steele stood on one leg in the doorway, nose wrinkled up on one side. 'Thought I smelt something.' She ground her left foot into the blue-gray carpet, then dragged it along the floor behind her as she lurched into the briefing room: a hunchless wrinkly Igor in a stain-speckled grey trouser suit. Today her hair looked like she'd borrowed it from an angry hedgehog. (Taken from DI Steele's Bad Heir Day)
ABOUT 'PARTNERS IN CRIME': Two bloody brilliant short stories from No. 1 bestselling crime writer Stuart MacBride, featuring DS Logan McRae and his boss DI Steel
STRAMASH:Something fishy is happening on the isle of Jura.DS Logan McRae gets a phone call from DI Steel ordering him to come to the island at once. One freezing night’s sleep in a hatchback and two storm-battered ferries later, Logan arrives – but there’s no sign of Steel.She's lumped him in the middle of a policing nightmare, with bodies, and bullets, and tiny wee boats. And a dangerous hard man who’s meant to be dead…
DI STEEL’S BAD HEIR DAY:Why is DI Steel in an even worse mood than usual?Is it because it’s Christmas? Or maybe it's because the missing persons case she’s just caught looks like a hoax from a mile off? Or is it because she’s just been left a huge amount of money…?One thing’s for certain: Steel’s having a bad day, and she’s hell bent on making sure Constable Guthrie has one too.
MY THOUGHTS: I can't beat the comment 'Two bloody brilliant short stories'. I can add humorous to that though.
They are very short but, imho, totally unmissable. Classic MacBride.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
#PartnersinCrime #stuartmacbride #harpercollins
@StuartMacBride @HarperFiction @steveworsley03
#christmasfiction #crime #detectivefiction #humour #shortstories
THE AUTHOR: The life and times of a bearded write-ist.
Stuart MacBride (that's me) was born in Dumbarton -- which is Glasgow as far as I'm concerned -- moving up to Aberdeen at the tender age of two, when fashions were questionable. Nothing much happened for years and years and years: learned to play the recorder, then forgot how when they changed from little coloured dots to proper musical notes (why the hell couldn't they have taught us the notes in the first bloody place? I could have been performing my earth-shattering rendition of 'Three Blind Mice' at the Albert Hall by now!); appeared in some bizarre World War Two musical production; did my best to avoid eating haggis and generally ran about the place a lot.
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.
And so to UNIVERSITY, far too young, naive and stupid to be away from the family home, sharing a subterranean flat in one of the seedier bits of Edinburgh with a mad Irishman, and four other bizarre individuals. The highlight of walking to the art school in the mornings (yes: we were students, but we still did mornings) was trying not to tread in the fresh bloodstains outside our front door, and dodging the undercover CID officers trying to buy drugs. Lovely place.
But university and I did not see eye to eye, so off I went to work offshore. Like many all-male environments, working offshore was the intellectual equivalent of Animal House, only without the clever bits. Swearing, smoking, eating, more swearing, pornography, swearing, drinking endless plastic cups of tea... and did I mention the swearing? But it was more money than I'd seen in my life! There's something about being handed a wadge of cash as you clamber off the minibus from the heliport, having spent the last two weeks offshore and the last two hours in an orange, rubber romper suit / body bag, then blowing most of it in the pubs and clubs of Aberdeen. And being young enough to get away without a hangover.
Then came a spell of working for myself as a graphic designer, which went the way of all flesh and into the heady world of studio management for a nation-wide marketing company. Then some more freelance design work, a handful of voiceovers for local radio and video production companies and a bash at being an actor (with a small 'a'), giving it up when it became clear there was no way I was ever going to be good enough to earn a decent living.
It was about this time I fell into bad company -- a blonde from Fife who conned me into marrying her -- and started producing websites for a friend's fledgling Internet company. From there it was a roller coaster ride (in that it made a lot of people feel decidedly unwell) from web designer to web manager, lead programmer, team lead and other assorted technical bollocks with three different companies, eventually ending up as a project manager for a global IT company.
But there was always the writing (well, that's not true, the writing only started two chapters above this one). I fell victim to that most dreadful of things: peer pressure. Two friends were writing novels and I thought, 'why not? I could do that'.
Took a few years though...
DISCLOSURE: I listened to the audiobook of Partners in Crime, written by Stuart MacBride, narrated by Steve Worsley and published by Harper Collins via Overdrive. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review and others are also published on Twitter, Instagram, and my webpage
'Sod . . .' DI Steele stood on one leg in the doorway, nose wrinkled up on one side. 'Thought I smelt something.' She ground her left foot into the blue-gray carpet, then dragged it along the floor behind her as she lurched into the briefing room: a hunchless wrinkly Igor in a stain-speckled grey trouser suit. Today her hair looked like she'd borrowed it from an angry hedgehog. (Taken from DI Steele's Bad Heir Day)
ABOUT 'PARTNERS IN CRIME': Two bloody brilliant short stories from No. 1 bestselling crime writer Stuart MacBride, featuring DS Logan McRae and his boss DI Steel
STRAMASH:Something fishy is happening on the isle of Jura.DS Logan McRae gets a phone call from DI Steel ordering him to come to the island at once. One freezing night’s sleep in a hatchback and two storm-battered ferries later, Logan arrives – but there’s no sign of Steel.She's lumped him in the middle of a policing nightmare, with bodies, and bullets, and tiny wee boats. And a dangerous hard man who’s meant to be dead…
DI STEEL’S BAD HEIR DAY:Why is DI Steel in an even worse mood than usual?Is it because it’s Christmas? Or maybe it's because the missing persons case she’s just caught looks like a hoax from a mile off? Or is it because she’s just been left a huge amount of money…?One thing’s for certain: Steel’s having a bad day, and she’s hell bent on making sure Constable Guthrie has one too.
MY THOUGHTS: I can't beat the comment 'Two bloody brilliant short stories'. I can add humorous to that though.
They are very short but, imho, totally unmissable. Classic MacBride.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
#PartnersinCrime #stuartmacbride #harpercollins
@StuartMacBride @HarperFiction @steveworsley03
#christmasfiction #crime #detectivefiction #humour #shortstories
THE AUTHOR: The life and times of a bearded write-ist.
Stuart MacBride (that's me) was born in Dumbarton -- which is Glasgow as far as I'm concerned -- moving up to Aberdeen at the tender age of two, when fashions were questionable. Nothing much happened for years and years and years: learned to play the recorder, then forgot how when they changed from little coloured dots to proper musical notes (why the hell couldn't they have taught us the notes in the first bloody place? I could have been performing my earth-shattering rendition of 'Three Blind Mice' at the Albert Hall by now!); appeared in some bizarre World War Two musical production; did my best to avoid eating haggis and generally ran about the place a lot.
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.
And so to UNIVERSITY, far too young, naive and stupid to be away from the family home, sharing a subterranean flat in one of the seedier bits of Edinburgh with a mad Irishman, and four other bizarre individuals. The highlight of walking to the art school in the mornings (yes: we were students, but we still did mornings) was trying not to tread in the fresh bloodstains outside our front door, and dodging the undercover CID officers trying to buy drugs. Lovely place.
But university and I did not see eye to eye, so off I went to work offshore. Like many all-male environments, working offshore was the intellectual equivalent of Animal House, only without the clever bits. Swearing, smoking, eating, more swearing, pornography, swearing, drinking endless plastic cups of tea... and did I mention the swearing? But it was more money than I'd seen in my life! There's something about being handed a wadge of cash as you clamber off the minibus from the heliport, having spent the last two weeks offshore and the last two hours in an orange, rubber romper suit / body bag, then blowing most of it in the pubs and clubs of Aberdeen. And being young enough to get away without a hangover.
Then came a spell of working for myself as a graphic designer, which went the way of all flesh and into the heady world of studio management for a nation-wide marketing company. Then some more freelance design work, a handful of voiceovers for local radio and video production companies and a bash at being an actor (with a small 'a'), giving it up when it became clear there was no way I was ever going to be good enough to earn a decent living.
It was about this time I fell into bad company -- a blonde from Fife who conned me into marrying her -- and started producing websites for a friend's fledgling Internet company. From there it was a roller coaster ride (in that it made a lot of people feel decidedly unwell) from web designer to web manager, lead programmer, team lead and other assorted technical bollocks with three different companies, eventually ending up as a project manager for a global IT company.
But there was always the writing (well, that's not true, the writing only started two chapters above this one). I fell victim to that most dreadful of things: peer pressure. Two friends were writing novels and I thought, 'why not? I could do that'.
Took a few years though...
DISCLOSURE: I listened to the audiobook of Partners in Crime, written by Stuart MacBride, narrated by Steve Worsley and published by Harper Collins via Overdrive. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review and others are also published on Twitter, Instagram, and my webpage
October 5, 2024
I love Logan and Steel, and these stories are up to Stuart Macbride's standard, with laugh out loud moments all the way through!
February 6, 2017
I honestly believe this is the closest I’ve ever been to giving short stories a five star rating.
Often, I find short stories to be a case of hit or miss. I’m even more tentative when it comes to any series I consider to be one of my favourites. Such stories can add so much more to the overall series, or they can be a handful of pages that add nothing much at all. Thus, I went in with a feeling of trepidation.
Whilst these two short stories don’t add all that much to the overall series, they are a lot of fun. Yes, references are made to the events within these pages in the future books – but it’s not the end of the world if you do not read them. I suggest you do, though, as they’re so much fun.
Of the two, DI Steel’s Bad Heir Day was my favourite. I cannot begin to explain how much I laughed at this one. I was so engrossed in the story that I walked around Asda reading this, earning many strange looks and a handful of questions pertaining to the noises I was making. Explaining what was so funny – well, that was something else entirely. Honestly, I cannot begin to explain how amusing this story was. Every turn of the page seemed to have me chuckling away at something new. I’m fairly certain I was close to hyperventilating at one point – such was my amusement. Yes, MacBride always brings about some kind of chuckle; this was something else entirely, though.
Stramash was also highly entertaining. It wasn’t quite as amusing, but it did earn plenty of giggles from me. I feel as though the story was a bit more substantial here, yet both were a lot of fun. Both gave us many entertaining Steel moments, yet Stramash was the one to give us amusement in the form of both Steel and McRae.
Considering the very small number of pages here, these were two wonderful little tales.
Often, I find short stories to be a case of hit or miss. I’m even more tentative when it comes to any series I consider to be one of my favourites. Such stories can add so much more to the overall series, or they can be a handful of pages that add nothing much at all. Thus, I went in with a feeling of trepidation.
Whilst these two short stories don’t add all that much to the overall series, they are a lot of fun. Yes, references are made to the events within these pages in the future books – but it’s not the end of the world if you do not read them. I suggest you do, though, as they’re so much fun.
Of the two, DI Steel’s Bad Heir Day was my favourite. I cannot begin to explain how much I laughed at this one. I was so engrossed in the story that I walked around Asda reading this, earning many strange looks and a handful of questions pertaining to the noises I was making. Explaining what was so funny – well, that was something else entirely. Honestly, I cannot begin to explain how amusing this story was. Every turn of the page seemed to have me chuckling away at something new. I’m fairly certain I was close to hyperventilating at one point – such was my amusement. Yes, MacBride always brings about some kind of chuckle; this was something else entirely, though.
Stramash was also highly entertaining. It wasn’t quite as amusing, but it did earn plenty of giggles from me. I feel as though the story was a bit more substantial here, yet both were a lot of fun. Both gave us many entertaining Steel moments, yet Stramash was the one to give us amusement in the form of both Steel and McRae.
Considering the very small number of pages here, these were two wonderful little tales.
April 1, 2022
A short break to read two Logan and Steel short stories. The first “DI Steel’s Bad Heir Day” featured only Steel, and I found it uneven, amusing in terms of Steel’s antics and comments, but I didn’t feel that the parts joined into a coherent tale. The second, “Stramash” was better. Both Logan and Steel worked together to capture a mishmash of top-level gangsters, at least one of whom had been declared dead five years earlier. Plenty of action, and humour, but again I felt it was a tad unfinished. Neither was as good as “The 45% Hangover”, a Logan and Steel novella I read a while ago.
July 11, 2015
Despite being a huge fan of Stuart MacBride and his Logan McRae series, I've never actually read the Logan and Steel shorts, even though DI Roberta Steel is one of the best secondary characters in crime fiction. It's no wonder that somebody thought it would be a good idea to give her even more of a spotlight, especially in DI Steel's Bad Heir Day where she is very much the star of the show.
Short stories are tricky to get right, especially when it is two in one as both stories in Partners in Crime are incredibly short. That said Stuart MacBride manages to pack in enough humour to have you chuckling away as you read and these shorts would be great for the commute to work when you don't want to stop and start a full-length story.
People know by now that Steel is just so politically incorrect it should be ridiculous but really, it's hilarious. In Bad Heir Day she's in a rotten mood (more so than usual). She has the case of a missing person to contend with over Christmas and she's also been left with a huge amount of money, but it comes with strings attached. This is probably the funniest of the two. I for one would hate to be stuck in a car with Steel driving around Scotland solving crimes. For those that know Steel's history, some of the developments in this story will be highly amusing.
In Stramash Logan is reluctantly dragged out to the back of beyond, the isle of Jura, by Steel in a story that I was left wishing was longer because it was great. Steel thinks she's witnessed on the island two men believed to have absconded to sunnier climes and she and Laz must apprehend them. Chaos soon ensues. This would have been great as a full-length story but for a short, it was highly entertaining and Steel and Logan together on the page is always a lot of fun. Very few characters in crime fiction make me actually laugh out loud, but Steel does.
I think it's unfair to criticise these shorts as surely you know what you are getting when you pick them up. Perhaps if they were slightly longer it would be better value for money but at the time of writing this is just 99p which compared to similarly priced books on Kindle is quite the bargain. It also serves as a good taster for those who are yet to pick up a Stuart MacBride novel (so, nobody, yes?).
Short stories are tricky to get right, especially when it is two in one as both stories in Partners in Crime are incredibly short. That said Stuart MacBride manages to pack in enough humour to have you chuckling away as you read and these shorts would be great for the commute to work when you don't want to stop and start a full-length story.
People know by now that Steel is just so politically incorrect it should be ridiculous but really, it's hilarious. In Bad Heir Day she's in a rotten mood (more so than usual). She has the case of a missing person to contend with over Christmas and she's also been left with a huge amount of money, but it comes with strings attached. This is probably the funniest of the two. I for one would hate to be stuck in a car with Steel driving around Scotland solving crimes. For those that know Steel's history, some of the developments in this story will be highly amusing.
In Stramash Logan is reluctantly dragged out to the back of beyond, the isle of Jura, by Steel in a story that I was left wishing was longer because it was great. Steel thinks she's witnessed on the island two men believed to have absconded to sunnier climes and she and Laz must apprehend them. Chaos soon ensues. This would have been great as a full-length story but for a short, it was highly entertaining and Steel and Logan together on the page is always a lot of fun. Very few characters in crime fiction make me actually laugh out loud, but Steel does.
I think it's unfair to criticise these shorts as surely you know what you are getting when you pick them up. Perhaps if they were slightly longer it would be better value for money but at the time of writing this is just 99p which compared to similarly priced books on Kindle is quite the bargain. It also serves as a good taster for those who are yet to pick up a Stuart MacBride novel (so, nobody, yes?).
February 4, 2015
There are two short stories included in this book, with the emphasis on short. Both of them were finished by the time I had got through 70% and the rest of the book was taken up with the first few chapters of 'Close To The Bone'. This book comes between books 7 and 8, and gives the reader the missing insight to Steel's inheritance which is talked about in book 8.
DI STEEL’S BAD HEIR DAY:
Why is DI Steel in an even worse mood than usual?
Is it because it’s Christmas? Or maybe it's because the missing persons case she’s just caught looks like a hoax from a mile off? Or is it because she’s just been left a huge amount of money…?
One thing’s for certain: Steel’s having a bad day, and she’s hell bent on making sure Constable Guthrie has one too.
STRAMASH:
Something fishy is happening on the isle of Jura.
DS Logan McRae gets a phone call from DI Steel ordering him to come to the island at once. One freezing night’s sleep in a hatchback and two storm-battered ferries later, Logan arrives – but there’s no sign of Steel.
She's lumped him in the middle of a policing nightmare, with bodies, and bullets, and tiny wee boats. And a dangerous hard man who’s meant to be dead…
DI STEEL’S BAD HEIR DAY:
Why is DI Steel in an even worse mood than usual?
Is it because it’s Christmas? Or maybe it's because the missing persons case she’s just caught looks like a hoax from a mile off? Or is it because she’s just been left a huge amount of money…?
One thing’s for certain: Steel’s having a bad day, and she’s hell bent on making sure Constable Guthrie has one too.
STRAMASH:
Something fishy is happening on the isle of Jura.
DS Logan McRae gets a phone call from DI Steel ordering him to come to the island at once. One freezing night’s sleep in a hatchback and two storm-battered ferries later, Logan arrives – but there’s no sign of Steel.
She's lumped him in the middle of a policing nightmare, with bodies, and bullets, and tiny wee boats. And a dangerous hard man who’s meant to be dead…
October 7, 2015
ok ... this is the first time I've come across a character who is a DI who clunks her way through a case
with its odd humor (reminding me of a dear friend) and the quirky often crude behavior of DI Roberta Steel, I think I will need to check out this series
with its odd humor (reminding me of a dear friend) and the quirky often crude behavior of DI Roberta Steel, I think I will need to check out this series
July 6, 2019
Purtroppo non sono riuscita ad apprezzare appieno questi due racconti brevi.
Ho avuto difficoltà con la lettura in originale perché piena di acronimi, riferimenti alla cultura pop britannica e termini tecnici.
Come quasi tutti i racconti, il problema è la brevità non hai tempo sufficiente per calarti nella storia e a volte non si capisce a cosa servano.
Averli letti dopo l’undicesimo capitolo della serie non ha aiutato perché, dopo essere andati avanti con certe situazioni, non è facile tornare indietro.
Comunque sono simpatici, divertenti pieni del solito sarcasmo, Logan è Logan e i suoi siparietti con la mitica Steel insuperabili.
Ho avuto difficoltà con la lettura in originale perché piena di acronimi, riferimenti alla cultura pop britannica e termini tecnici.
Come quasi tutti i racconti, il problema è la brevità non hai tempo sufficiente per calarti nella storia e a volte non si capisce a cosa servano.
Averli letti dopo l’undicesimo capitolo della serie non ha aiutato perché, dopo essere andati avanti con certe situazioni, non è facile tornare indietro.
Comunque sono simpatici, divertenti pieni del solito sarcasmo, Logan è Logan e i suoi siparietti con la mitica Steel insuperabili.
August 24, 2017
Two short stories featuring Logan McRae and DI Roberta Steel - a good read
February 6, 2024
Dvě kratší povídky z mé oblíbené série, a pokud jste příznivci D.I. Roberty Steelové, je to něco pro vás. Hlavní hrdinkou obou je totiž právě tato drsná dáma, což napoví už první slovo knihy ("Sod..!"). V obou povídkách je o dost víc humoru než thrilleru, což hodnotím kladně, a i když je samozřejmě ocení především ti, pro které není McBridův Aberdeen španělskou vesnicí, myslím, že to stojí za pokus i pro ostatní.
December 17, 2015
As advertised, here are two short stories from one of my favorite writers, Stuart MacBride. The first, "DI Steel's Bad Heir Day," features the inimitable Detective Inspector Steel and the poor put-upon Detective Constable Allan Guthrie. Not only does Steel force Guthrie to wear a Santa bobble hat complete with flashing lights, she's got him on the trail of her Christmas shopping. And then of course there's the matter of a missing man and an inheritance. This story is interesting in so much as we get to see someone else having to deal with Steel-- and it's certainly not easy.
The second story, "Stramash," has Steel on holiday with her partner. Unfortunately Steel has uncovered a crime, and instead of dealing with it herself-- her partner's insisted on this holiday and no work-- she calls the long-suffering Logan McRae to go all the way there to deal with it. Again-- it's not easy. A thought did cross McRae's mind in the midst of his misery: "A quick shove and she probably wouldn't wash ashore till she reached Ireland...."-- and I was mentally willing him to do the deed.
MacBride has done an absolutely brilliant job of creating DI Steel-- a character whom I loathe. I dislike the woman so much because she reminds me of a former boss who perfected shoving all his work off on his already overloaded employees. It's gotten to the point where I have an extremely difficult time dealing with an entire novel; there's just too much of Steel in one. However, these short stories are just the right length for me to get back in touch with my beloved Logan McRae and Aberdeen, Scotland.
MacBride writes with a wicked, twisted sense of humor that I enjoy. He can also create some fantastic plots for his mysteries, and his characters are so vivid that they leap off the page. His short stories show all this, so they're a good way to sample his writing before you bite into an entire novel. But if you find yourself wanting to give Steel "a quick shove," come sit next to me. We'll compare notes!
The second story, "Stramash," has Steel on holiday with her partner. Unfortunately Steel has uncovered a crime, and instead of dealing with it herself-- her partner's insisted on this holiday and no work-- she calls the long-suffering Logan McRae to go all the way there to deal with it. Again-- it's not easy. A thought did cross McRae's mind in the midst of his misery: "A quick shove and she probably wouldn't wash ashore till she reached Ireland...."-- and I was mentally willing him to do the deed.
MacBride has done an absolutely brilliant job of creating DI Steel-- a character whom I loathe. I dislike the woman so much because she reminds me of a former boss who perfected shoving all his work off on his already overloaded employees. It's gotten to the point where I have an extremely difficult time dealing with an entire novel; there's just too much of Steel in one. However, these short stories are just the right length for me to get back in touch with my beloved Logan McRae and Aberdeen, Scotland.
MacBride writes with a wicked, twisted sense of humor that I enjoy. He can also create some fantastic plots for his mysteries, and his characters are so vivid that they leap off the page. His short stories show all this, so they're a good way to sample his writing before you bite into an entire novel. But if you find yourself wanting to give Steel "a quick shove," come sit next to me. We'll compare notes!
July 21, 2018
2 short novellas, not bad.
June 7, 2019
Two nice short stories. Probably not so enjoyable if you haven't got to know the characters.
July 24, 2019
Two great short stories , gritty and they made me chuckle.
December 23, 2019
Quick read.
January 15, 2018
I found this pretty poor really. I was rather disappointed, the previous Logan McCrae books have all been decent reads. Maybe it's the short story format that didn't sit right with me.
The second story is better than the first by a country mile. However, that was so far fetched that 5 or 6 of the most wanted criminals are at the same hotel as the police were at. In one of the most remote parts of Scotland.
Will definitely give short stories a wide berth from now on.
The second story is better than the first by a country mile. However, that was so far fetched that 5 or 6 of the most wanted criminals are at the same hotel as the police were at. In one of the most remote parts of Scotland.
Will definitely give short stories a wide berth from now on.
July 5, 2020
Mayhem galore.
Two short stories featuring the ghastly but addictive Steel and the much put upon Logan. The first features Steel terrorising a baby cop and the second has Steel and Logan in the wild Hebrides trying to round-up a convention of criminals there to collect a fortune in drugs. Result? Bodies everywhere, not to mention gusts of laughter. A minor episode in the Steel/Logan love-hate fest, but a joy to read. A taster for the novels. Recommended.
Two short stories featuring the ghastly but addictive Steel and the much put upon Logan. The first features Steel terrorising a baby cop and the second has Steel and Logan in the wild Hebrides trying to round-up a convention of criminals there to collect a fortune in drugs. Result? Bodies everywhere, not to mention gusts of laughter. A minor episode in the Steel/Logan love-hate fest, but a joy to read. A taster for the novels. Recommended.
August 19, 2021
Any appearance by Logan and DI Steele is good in my eyes, so I enjoyed the two short stories that make up this ebook. They felt a bit like sub-plots from one of the novels so felt a little sketchy and ultimately unsatisfying as they just whetted my appetite for a meal that wasn't yet available. I was frustrated by the long extract from one of the novels at the end of the ebook.
September 28, 2017
Not long enough!!
I love these characters so much. I look forward to anything they're in. Great little novella and as usual an excellent read. DI Steel is such a brilliant character.. I'd love to know who Stuart MacBride based her on! Recommended easy read, although not in bed as it has plenty of laugh out loud moments
I love these characters so much. I look forward to anything they're in. Great little novella and as usual an excellent read. DI Steel is such a brilliant character.. I'd love to know who Stuart MacBride based her on! Recommended easy read, although not in bed as it has plenty of laugh out loud moments
December 21, 2018
I was looking for something quick and available in my library's ebook selection. What a treat to stumble across this! My first Stuart MacBride and I am in LOVE! Love his writing style, his use of language and the Scotish vernacular, the humor, the characters - Steel is just TOO funny. Can't wait to read the full novels.
March 31, 2021
For some reason, I find this a hard one to review. DI Steels Bad Heir Day was my favourite of the 2 stories and easily got 5 stars. There was something about Stramash that I didn't like quite so much so it only got 3 stars.
March 18, 2018
Two good short stories
I haven't read much of Stuart MacBride but I enjoyed these short stories and will be moving on to the other stories, the author has a fantastic sense of humor which comes through into his writing
I haven't read much of Stuart MacBride but I enjoyed these short stories and will be moving on to the other stories, the author has a fantastic sense of humor which comes through into his writing
June 9, 2018
Excellent
Excellent
As usual the author manages to show the world as it really is when it is at its most As usual the author manages to show the world as it really is when it is at its most difficult.
Excellent
As usual the author manages to show the world as it really is when it is at its most As usual the author manages to show the world as it really is when it is at its most difficult.
October 29, 2017
Introduction
This is my first "double" short story book by this said author is good and eye opening.
I will try a longer version of this author's book.
This is my first "double" short story book by this said author is good and eye opening.
I will try a longer version of this author's book.
December 25, 2017
A bit farcical but enjoyable non the less.
January 4, 2018
Two short stories featuring Logan MacRae. Enjoyable, throw away short stories.
April 14, 2018
Two very short but good stories.....enjoyable but not enough.
June 14, 2018
Disappointed when I found the book was only 46 pages long and contained 2 very short stories. Looked like a chapter was written for a book and never used and then released.
June 29, 2018
I don't usually read short stories but when it comes to Stuart MacBride I just can't get enough.
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