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D.S. Roberta Steel #2
And the Corpse Wore Tartan
From Stuart MacBride, the Sunday Times bestselling author of the smash-hit Logan McRae series.
Move Over Miss Marple . . .
The great and the not-so-good are gathered at Skirivour Castle Hotel, in the heart of the Highlands, for the wedding of the year – but they weren’t expecting Detective Sergeant Roberta Steel to crash their party. And get horribly, horribly drunk.
The whole valley’s been cut off by a massive thunderstorm and the phone lines are down, so when the father-of-the-bride’s body is discovered – decoratively impaled on a stag’s head in the hotel lobby – it’s up to DS Steel to find out whodunit. Which isn’t easy when you’ve got a monstrous hangover and only a world-weary sergeant and a halfwit police constable for backup.
With no witnesses and every wedding guest a suspect, Roberta will need to use every one of her little grey cells if she’s going to catch the killer and get out of there alive.
Praise for Stuart
‘MacBride is a damned fine writer’ – Peter James, author of Picture You Dead
‘Dark and brilliantly written’ – Linwood Barclay, author of I Will Ruin You
‘Crime fiction of the highest order’ – Mark Billingham, author of The Last Dance
Move Over Miss Marple . . .
The great and the not-so-good are gathered at Skirivour Castle Hotel, in the heart of the Highlands, for the wedding of the year – but they weren’t expecting Detective Sergeant Roberta Steel to crash their party. And get horribly, horribly drunk.
The whole valley’s been cut off by a massive thunderstorm and the phone lines are down, so when the father-of-the-bride’s body is discovered – decoratively impaled on a stag’s head in the hotel lobby – it’s up to DS Steel to find out whodunit. Which isn’t easy when you’ve got a monstrous hangover and only a world-weary sergeant and a halfwit police constable for backup.
With no witnesses and every wedding guest a suspect, Roberta will need to use every one of her little grey cells if she’s going to catch the killer and get out of there alive.
Praise for Stuart
‘MacBride is a damned fine writer’ – Peter James, author of Picture You Dead
‘Dark and brilliantly written’ – Linwood Barclay, author of I Will Ruin You
‘Crime fiction of the highest order’ – Mark Billingham, author of The Last Dance
221 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 10, 2026
About the author
Stuart MacBride
87 books2,838 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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Displaying 1 - 30 of 191 reviews
February 12, 2026
AND THE CORPSE WORE TARTAN is a short Roberta Steel novel. I was entertained by the comedy, but I felt there was too much repetition. It should have been a novella. To increase its length to meet the short novel format, all the good jokes were rehashed—several times.
Consequently, I read over and over again about Steel's discomfort with her new panties and bra (sexy ones that wife Susan purchased for her), her hangover ("If she wasn't dead, she was dying."), the garish castle filled with tartan everything ("Hollywood's idea of how Scotland was meant to look."), her misidentification as a DCI (instead of her current status as a DS, following her demotion)—all jokes that hit home, the first (or even second) time I read them, but then became too repetitious.
Eventually, the story did move onto a murder mystery, but again there was too much repetition. Roberta walked through the miserable rain too often ("Going to catch her death of mildew at this rate.") Chasing clues. Interviewing suspects. Assisted by two locals who simply didn't have the personality of her regular sidekick, Logan McRae. Logan adds gravity to McBride's Aberdeen based series, whereas Steel adds humour. I loved the humour, but missed the insight that I usually find in Stuart MacBride's novels.
AND THE CORPSE WORE TARTAN was written as a homage to one of Agatha Christie's most famous works, Murder on the Orient Express. Personally, I didn't find the ending satisfactory, but other readers might. It was, overall, a fun read. However, it didn't provide the depth that I have come to expect from author Stuart MacBride. Luckily, it doesn't take long to read. 3.5 stars.
Thanks to Pan MacMillan for providing an electronic copy of this book via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinions.
Consequently, I read over and over again about Steel's discomfort with her new panties and bra (sexy ones that wife Susan purchased for her), her hangover ("If she wasn't dead, she was dying."), the garish castle filled with tartan everything ("Hollywood's idea of how Scotland was meant to look."), her misidentification as a DCI (instead of her current status as a DS, following her demotion)—all jokes that hit home, the first (or even second) time I read them, but then became too repetitious.
Eventually, the story did move onto a murder mystery, but again there was too much repetition. Roberta walked through the miserable rain too often ("Going to catch her death of mildew at this rate.") Chasing clues. Interviewing suspects. Assisted by two locals who simply didn't have the personality of her regular sidekick, Logan McRae. Logan adds gravity to McBride's Aberdeen based series, whereas Steel adds humour. I loved the humour, but missed the insight that I usually find in Stuart MacBride's novels.
AND THE CORPSE WORE TARTAN was written as a homage to one of Agatha Christie's most famous works, Murder on the Orient Express. Personally, I didn't find the ending satisfactory, but other readers might. It was, overall, a fun read. However, it didn't provide the depth that I have come to expect from author Stuart MacBride. Luckily, it doesn't take long to read. 3.5 stars.
Thanks to Pan MacMillan for providing an electronic copy of this book via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinions.
February 23, 2026
Stuart MacBride's take on the classic Golden Age mystery is a romp as DS Roberta Steel is stranded in a country house hotel. Cut-off from the rest of the world by Scotland's stormy weather, she has to identify the killer of the father-of-the-bride who is found impaled the morning after the wedding. Definitely not your usual country house mystery. I won't recommend this as the first book you read by Stuart MacBride as Roberta Steel is definitely an acquired taste and understanding the backstory will add to the fun.
March 6, 2026
"Mind you, how do you spot a deranged, heartless, amoral psychopath when everyone's a Tory? Like trying to spot a Mars Bar in a swimming pool full of jobbies." (p.65)
March 7, 2026
This was meant to be MacBride's homage to the 'golden age' of crime fiction....I guess he wasn't a fan then because this novella was nothing more than a 'golden shower'. I've read a lot of MacBride's novels, loved them all, found them hard-hitting, gritty and consistently well written, however, this book was repetitive, shallow and...well, shite! This was not the tough, Tartan-noir I'd come to expect but a gimpy, over egged farce. It read like something Chat GPT would come up with and I hope it turns out to be a one off because I've really enjoyed everything else he's written.
February 15, 2026
I wasn’t expecting a spoof, really disappointed. Totally over-egged the pudding. Had expected a proper Roberta Steel episode not a slapstick lightweight romp.
April 12, 2026
How can I summarize this “experience”? Well, Roberta is her usual foul-mouthed, tacky, naughty and fabulous self but this time she got herself two helpers in her murder investigation, a Constable and a Sargent because everybody including the police think she is still a Chief Inspector.
The cosy aspect of this book is that we are in a castle in the middle of nowhere, no lights, a murder and an array of horrible characters that come together in the parlor of the hotel while Steel plays Poirot.
The action is less than the usual Logan and Steel’s books, it is a story about Roberta being Roberta. Less twists and turns and no sub plots. If I didn’t like Steel so very much I would have rated the book three stars, but I really enjoyed it.
The cosy aspect of this book is that we are in a castle in the middle of nowhere, no lights, a murder and an array of horrible characters that come together in the parlor of the hotel while Steel plays Poirot.
The action is less than the usual Logan and Steel’s books, it is a story about Roberta being Roberta. Less twists and turns and no sub plots. If I didn’t like Steel so very much I would have rated the book three stars, but I really enjoyed it.
May 6, 2026
Idk what happened in this, didn’t give what I thought it was going to give and the main character is pretty pervy
March 18, 2026
Daft
I really did not enjoy this! Roberta is actually a sex pest! She disgusts me with her dirty underwear and always fondling her wife in public! She used to be funny but perhaps that was because it was only in small doses! A whole book of her is overkill! Stick to Logan!
I really did not enjoy this! Roberta is actually a sex pest! She disgusts me with her dirty underwear and always fondling her wife in public! She used to be funny but perhaps that was because it was only in small doses! A whole book of her is overkill! Stick to Logan!
March 2, 2026
so we actually don't know who the killer was? weird.. pretty funny otherwise
July 14, 2026
In a clear nod to Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express", author Stuart MacBride sets his tale in Skirivour Castle Hotel in the Highlands, amasses a bunch of suspects and dreadful people. Detective Sergeant Roberta Steel decides to surprise her wife Susan, who is attending a wedding there.
Roberta is horrified to find that everyone attending the wedding, other than Susan, is a conservative politician, or related to one. And she's horrified and disgusted, and Susan is unhappy with Roberta, who goes off by herself to get well and properly drunk.
The next morning, shortly before a huge thunderstorm knocks out the power and phone lines, she and others discover the dead body of the father of the bride, impaled on a huge stag head in the hotel lobby.
As the senior police officer present, Roberta, hugely hungover, leads an investigation with the local police sergeant Sandy Moore, whose son is marrying the bride, and young PC McKinnon. They begin the hard job of investigating the guests and hotel staff, who are unhappy to be stuck in their rooms during Roberta's investigation. Every guest claims the dead man was wonderful, and soon it becomes obvious that they all have the same thing to say about him, never mind the real stories about the man paint a different picture.
Roberta leads the other two, and though the leads point to a lot of collusion and guilt, there is no resounding wrap-up, or arrests made, making this mystery a little dissatisfying, even seeing how MacBride used aspects of Christie's mystery.
Roberta is something else; foul-mouthed and unwilling to kowtow to anyone. I found her humour funny at first, but the repetition of certain jokes and points, rendered in constant profanity, did cause my interest to wane somewhat over the course of the story.
I don't know if this is how Roberta's other investigations went, but I'm sort of curious about some of MacBride's other novels, which I might check out.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Pan Macmillan for this ARC in exchange for my review.
Roberta is horrified to find that everyone attending the wedding, other than Susan, is a conservative politician, or related to one. And she's horrified and disgusted, and Susan is unhappy with Roberta, who goes off by herself to get well and properly drunk.
The next morning, shortly before a huge thunderstorm knocks out the power and phone lines, she and others discover the dead body of the father of the bride, impaled on a huge stag head in the hotel lobby.
As the senior police officer present, Roberta, hugely hungover, leads an investigation with the local police sergeant Sandy Moore, whose son is marrying the bride, and young PC McKinnon. They begin the hard job of investigating the guests and hotel staff, who are unhappy to be stuck in their rooms during Roberta's investigation. Every guest claims the dead man was wonderful, and soon it becomes obvious that they all have the same thing to say about him, never mind the real stories about the man paint a different picture.
Roberta leads the other two, and though the leads point to a lot of collusion and guilt, there is no resounding wrap-up, or arrests made, making this mystery a little dissatisfying, even seeing how MacBride used aspects of Christie's mystery.
Roberta is something else; foul-mouthed and unwilling to kowtow to anyone. I found her humour funny at first, but the repetition of certain jokes and points, rendered in constant profanity, did cause my interest to wane somewhat over the course of the story.
I don't know if this is how Roberta's other investigations went, but I'm sort of curious about some of MacBride's other novels, which I might check out.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Pan Macmillan for this ARC in exchange for my review.
July 3, 2026
Ahhh we love Auntie Roberta and her radical lesbian feminist agenda!
The setting was well described and so wonderfully stereotypical of the Highlands - I could picture all of the rooms - with all of the tartan! The descriptions of the weather were very accurate too!
Roberta's political (and other very non PC) views are very entertaining and always make me laugh.
The addition of a slightly daft younger officer and a worn-down DS were good touches and the characters allowed Roberta to be her old bossy DCI-self! Although no-one will be as good a sidekick as Tufty!
I love the relationship between Roberta and Susan, so it was nice to see a bit more of that throughout.
I love the Logan McRae series and really like that Roberta is getting her own little moment in the limelight again!
The ending did disappoint me a little, but it made sense in terms of the references throughout. Generally, I enjoyed the book, even if it's not my favourite in the series.
The setting was well described and so wonderfully stereotypical of the Highlands - I could picture all of the rooms - with all of the tartan! The descriptions of the weather were very accurate too!
Roberta's political (and other very non PC) views are very entertaining and always make me laugh.
The addition of a slightly daft younger officer and a worn-down DS were good touches and the characters allowed Roberta to be her old bossy DCI-self! Although no-one will be as good a sidekick as Tufty!
I love the relationship between Roberta and Susan, so it was nice to see a bit more of that throughout.
I love the Logan McRae series and really like that Roberta is getting her own little moment in the limelight again!
The ending did disappoint me a little, but it made sense in terms of the references throughout. Generally, I enjoyed the book, even if it's not my favourite in the series.
August 7, 2026
I'm not sure what I expected of this book, but I bought it entirely on the title, which made me laugh out loud. I found it in the window of a second hand book shop in Derbyshire, even though it was published this year and seemed to be unread.
It turned out to be a very well written hoot of a book. A murder has occurred in a Scottish country house hotel, during the night following a rather fancy wedding. The victim being the bride's father. Not only was he murdered, but he was impaled on an ornate set of antlers. If this sounds grim reading, fear not. One of the guests is detective sergeant Roberta Steel who, despite a world class hangover, sets about the investigation. What adds an element of Agatha Christie, is the hotel is in a very remote area, there has been a major storm, telecoms are down and the bridge to/from the hotel has collapsed.
A very enjoyable comedy crime novel.
It turned out to be a very well written hoot of a book. A murder has occurred in a Scottish country house hotel, during the night following a rather fancy wedding. The victim being the bride's father. Not only was he murdered, but he was impaled on an ornate set of antlers. If this sounds grim reading, fear not. One of the guests is detective sergeant Roberta Steel who, despite a world class hangover, sets about the investigation. What adds an element of Agatha Christie, is the hotel is in a very remote area, there has been a major storm, telecoms are down and the bridge to/from the hotel has collapsed.
A very enjoyable comedy crime novel.
June 24, 2026
I really like Roberta Steel's very politically incorrect character in the Logan McRae novels. I found this quite amusing and liked the premise of the plot. Some of the descriptions were really good and I could just imagine the setting of the hotel.
Not quite as good as I had hoped it would be but I enjoyed it.
Not quite as good as I had hoped it would be but I enjoyed it.
March 18, 2026
I got the book in random book pack. Not my normal
Style.
I did enjoy it somewhat, but mostly
Struggled through.
Style.
I did enjoy it somewhat, but mostly
Struggled through.
May 5, 2026
Bland
Poetic
Poetic
June 12, 2026
Stuart MacBride is one of my two favourite authors (along with Jo Nesbo), but this was by far my least favourite book that he has written. I appreciate the sentiment behind him writing it as a wee side project, but it could have just as easily been left unpublished.
May 1, 2026
Love, love,love. I think I'm in love with Roberta, I don't mind seeing the old faithful. Very funny, wonderful read. F the fascists.
July 14, 2026
Logan doesn't show up in this one. But Steele does. It's a wild wacky ride and the ending is not quite what you're going to expect
February 1, 2026
And The Corpse Wore Tartan by Stuart MacBride is apparently officially the second in the 'Steel and Tufty' series, though MacBride points out it's the first to solely feature DS (demoted from DCI) Roberta Steel who's a regular in the Logan McRae books penned by the Scottish author. I've only read one of two in that series and didn't remember Roberta (Robbie to her wife Susan, who features prominently here). And it has to be said, Robbie is certainly an acquired taste. If she were male she'd certainly be considered lecherous and/or lascivious and I was kinda horrified on Susan's behalf how outwardly pervy Robbie is toward other women in her presence.
In his note to readers MacBride said he was keen to pay homage to the Golden Age of detectives/crime fiction and this is certainly the quintessential locked-room mystery. As an aside, I feel like a lot of authors have gone down this route in the last year or so and Dame Agatha's cosy crimes are being increasingly referenced by other writers... as is the case here when Robbie starts to wonder if the murder victim isn't the result of a Murder On The Orient Express-style collaboration.
We earn he ripped off most of the locals—many of whom are at the wedding and staying in the hotel—through a dodgy investment deal, so there are no shortage of suspects for Robbie. She's frustrated though, that all of the wedding however guests and staff tend to use innocuous phrases when describing him... given he was obviously far from that.
Read my review here: https://www.debbish.com/books-literat...
In his note to readers MacBride said he was keen to pay homage to the Golden Age of detectives/crime fiction and this is certainly the quintessential locked-room mystery. As an aside, I feel like a lot of authors have gone down this route in the last year or so and Dame Agatha's cosy crimes are being increasingly referenced by other writers... as is the case here when Robbie starts to wonder if the murder victim isn't the result of a Murder On The Orient Express-style collaboration.
We earn he ripped off most of the locals—many of whom are at the wedding and staying in the hotel—through a dodgy investment deal, so there are no shortage of suspects for Robbie. She's frustrated though, that all of the wedding however guests and staff tend to use innocuous phrases when describing him... given he was obviously far from that.
Read my review here: https://www.debbish.com/books-literat...
September 10, 2026
A very light hearted romp, set in the Scottish Highlands and effectively an extremely loose adaptation of Agatha Christie's, 'Murder on the Orient Express'.
Cut off from civilisation, thanks to an unrelenting thunder storm and the location of the historical Skirivour Castle, set deep in the forested glens and the heather gripped mountains of the Scottish Highlands, a veritable backwater, where men are men, and sheep are afraid, the remaining wedding guests, lament the long lost mobile signal, an unreliable back up generator, and the horror of one of their number, the father of the bride to be precise, murdered in the night, and impaled on the antlers of a giant metal statue of a stag, in the hotel foyer! To make matters worse, the unfortunate victim, Sir Reginald Bradbury-Scott MP, has had his pyjama trousers pulled down around his ankles, where his shrivelled meat and two veg, are prominently on display for all the world to see, or his so called friends and family, whom make up the other hotel guests, at any rate.
However, before any of this happens, our very own DS Roberta Steel, invited to the wedding, as her wife, Susan's, plus one, turns up very much unexpected. Originally unable to attend the doo, a last minute change of plan, enabled Roberta to pack a suitcase and head off to the a*se end of nowhere and surprise Susan. Skirivour Castle, which has an exterior more like Frankenstein Castle than Balmoral and an interior, that has a migraine inducing amount of tartan decor, and is wall to wall with taxidermied animals, a veritable Noah's Ark of mangy, moth eaten dead things!
After an extra place at a dinner table, which to Roberta's bemusement, are all named after Tory MP's from Margret Thatcher's 1980's cabinet, like, ’Norman Lamont’, ‘Norman Tebbit’, and ’Cecil Parkinson’, has annoyingly, it would seem, been set for her. At her own table, next to Susan, among others, which is, bizarrely she thinks, labelled, ’Michael Heseltine’, she notices all the balloons, streamers and wedding paraphernalia, are blue!? Then it dawns on her, wait a minute, this is a TORY wedding! 'Aaaarrrggghh!!' she howls at Susan, 'This is a Tor......'
'You PROMISED you'd be on your BEST behaviour! REMEMBER!' Susan entreats, interrupting Roberta's yelp of dismay!
’But….but…. they’re Tories!? Tories for goodness sake!! They’re ALL God! Damn! TORIES!’
'Best behaviour Roberta! Promises must be kept!'
From that point on, it was a delightful, Tory and toff hatefest, from start to finish from Roberta and it was hilarious!
Absolutely fantastic stuff, as DS Steel simply refused to address any of the stuck up toffs by their proper names, for example, when talking to, or about the hotel owner, Lord Oliver William Fitzroy-Galbraith, she'd refer to him as, Lord Sharny-Bumflaps or Lord Fusty-Bumcrack, etc, etc haha! Pure. Dead. Brilliant.
When Roberta and two other police officers whom had also been at the wedding (one being the groom's father) were totalling up the amount of suspects they had to interview in the hotel, including guests and staff, Roberta pointed out,
'Mind you, how do you spot a deranged, heartless, amoral psychopath when everyone's a Tory? It's like trying to spot a Mars Bar in a swimming pool full of jobbies!'
…..haha! Classic Roberta f*cking Steel!
In 2007 Andrew Taylor in The Spectator, said DI Steel should be declared a national treasure, despite The Spectator being an egregious right wing Tory rag, I'd still have to very much agree with another of my favourite authors (see my review of ’The Ashes of London’) on that point! 'On yersel Roberta!'
While interviewing the deceased's widow,
'She settled into the couch again. 'What about affairs? Wee birdie tells me our boy Sir Reggie was a bit free and easy where he tossed the old family caber?'
Giving a whole new meaning to a Tory 'majority' right there, haha! Fannydabidozi, as infamous Scottish swingers, The Crankies used to almost say!
The book also did creepy pretty well too. When Roberta and her temporary sidekicks had to go off to see one, Albert Nairn, the hotel caretaker and gillie, who had a ramshackle cottage in the middle of some densely packed woods on the castle grounds. The eerie tableau that greeted them on arrival however, was as macabre and disturbing as anything you'd see this side of The Wicker Man. The dilapidated bothy was a grotty knacker's yard of animal bones and carcasses on the outside, and inside was a myriad of bizarre creations, where different animals, were stuffed and sewn on to entirely different creatures (a bit like Edward Tattsyrup’s horrifically weird creation, made out of the animals from Royston Vasey’s, ‘Roundabout Zoo’, to ward off ’new road’, in The League of Gentlemen, I presume)! Rabbits joined to crows, joined to weasels, joined to deer, joined to trout, and so on, all posed in anthropomorphic scenes of human activity, wearing tiny, handmade human clothing or displayed in a singular moment of taxidermy imposed creepiness. At least now Roberta knew whom was responsible for the stuffed animal monstrosities back at the hotel, and what she wouldn’t give to be back in a tartan clad hotel full of people, even Tories, at this precise moment, haha!
This short cosy murder mystery is joyously jam packed full of Stuart McBride's quick fire, toilet humour wit, salty sarcasm and sexily biting satire, and not forgetting Roberta’s’ tatty auld grey bra, ’Old Faithful’! Absolutely fabulous writing and guaranteed to put a smile on your coupon!
Cut off from civilisation, thanks to an unrelenting thunder storm and the location of the historical Skirivour Castle, set deep in the forested glens and the heather gripped mountains of the Scottish Highlands, a veritable backwater, where men are men, and sheep are afraid, the remaining wedding guests, lament the long lost mobile signal, an unreliable back up generator, and the horror of one of their number, the father of the bride to be precise, murdered in the night, and impaled on the antlers of a giant metal statue of a stag, in the hotel foyer! To make matters worse, the unfortunate victim, Sir Reginald Bradbury-Scott MP, has had his pyjama trousers pulled down around his ankles, where his shrivelled meat and two veg, are prominently on display for all the world to see, or his so called friends and family, whom make up the other hotel guests, at any rate.
However, before any of this happens, our very own DS Roberta Steel, invited to the wedding, as her wife, Susan's, plus one, turns up very much unexpected. Originally unable to attend the doo, a last minute change of plan, enabled Roberta to pack a suitcase and head off to the a*se end of nowhere and surprise Susan. Skirivour Castle, which has an exterior more like Frankenstein Castle than Balmoral and an interior, that has a migraine inducing amount of tartan decor, and is wall to wall with taxidermied animals, a veritable Noah's Ark of mangy, moth eaten dead things!
After an extra place at a dinner table, which to Roberta's bemusement, are all named after Tory MP's from Margret Thatcher's 1980's cabinet, like, ’Norman Lamont’, ‘Norman Tebbit’, and ’Cecil Parkinson’, has annoyingly, it would seem, been set for her. At her own table, next to Susan, among others, which is, bizarrely she thinks, labelled, ’Michael Heseltine’, she notices all the balloons, streamers and wedding paraphernalia, are blue!? Then it dawns on her, wait a minute, this is a TORY wedding! 'Aaaarrrggghh!!' she howls at Susan, 'This is a Tor......'
'You PROMISED you'd be on your BEST behaviour! REMEMBER!' Susan entreats, interrupting Roberta's yelp of dismay!
’But….but…. they’re Tories!? Tories for goodness sake!! They’re ALL God! Damn! TORIES!’
'Best behaviour Roberta! Promises must be kept!'
From that point on, it was a delightful, Tory and toff hatefest, from start to finish from Roberta and it was hilarious!
Absolutely fantastic stuff, as DS Steel simply refused to address any of the stuck up toffs by their proper names, for example, when talking to, or about the hotel owner, Lord Oliver William Fitzroy-Galbraith, she'd refer to him as, Lord Sharny-Bumflaps or Lord Fusty-Bumcrack, etc, etc haha! Pure. Dead. Brilliant.
When Roberta and two other police officers whom had also been at the wedding (one being the groom's father) were totalling up the amount of suspects they had to interview in the hotel, including guests and staff, Roberta pointed out,
'Mind you, how do you spot a deranged, heartless, amoral psychopath when everyone's a Tory? It's like trying to spot a Mars Bar in a swimming pool full of jobbies!'
…..haha! Classic Roberta f*cking Steel!
In 2007 Andrew Taylor in The Spectator, said DI Steel should be declared a national treasure, despite The Spectator being an egregious right wing Tory rag, I'd still have to very much agree with another of my favourite authors (see my review of ’The Ashes of London’) on that point! 'On yersel Roberta!'
While interviewing the deceased's widow,
'She settled into the couch again. 'What about affairs? Wee birdie tells me our boy Sir Reggie was a bit free and easy where he tossed the old family caber?'
Giving a whole new meaning to a Tory 'majority' right there, haha! Fannydabidozi, as infamous Scottish swingers, The Crankies used to almost say!
The book also did creepy pretty well too. When Roberta and her temporary sidekicks had to go off to see one, Albert Nairn, the hotel caretaker and gillie, who had a ramshackle cottage in the middle of some densely packed woods on the castle grounds. The eerie tableau that greeted them on arrival however, was as macabre and disturbing as anything you'd see this side of The Wicker Man. The dilapidated bothy was a grotty knacker's yard of animal bones and carcasses on the outside, and inside was a myriad of bizarre creations, where different animals, were stuffed and sewn on to entirely different creatures (a bit like Edward Tattsyrup’s horrifically weird creation, made out of the animals from Royston Vasey’s, ‘Roundabout Zoo’, to ward off ’new road’, in The League of Gentlemen, I presume)! Rabbits joined to crows, joined to weasels, joined to deer, joined to trout, and so on, all posed in anthropomorphic scenes of human activity, wearing tiny, handmade human clothing or displayed in a singular moment of taxidermy imposed creepiness. At least now Roberta knew whom was responsible for the stuffed animal monstrosities back at the hotel, and what she wouldn’t give to be back in a tartan clad hotel full of people, even Tories, at this precise moment, haha!
This short cosy murder mystery is joyously jam packed full of Stuart McBride's quick fire, toilet humour wit, salty sarcasm and sexily biting satire, and not forgetting Roberta’s’ tatty auld grey bra, ’Old Faithful’! Absolutely fabulous writing and guaranteed to put a smile on your coupon!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 23, 2026
This short ‘whodunnit’ novel was written as a homage to the ‘golden age’ of detective fiction, but it missed the mark for me. After reading and enjoying the author’s Logan McRae series of gritty crime thrillers, this was such an over-the-top spoof, that I didn’t know what to make of it?! Instead of MacBride’s usual dark, uncompromising realism, this was full of crass, comedic nonsense. It had an atmospheric, isolated setting, but none of the multi-layered plotting and clever psychological sleuthing of say an Agatha Christie classic. To say I was disappointed is an understatement.
The protagonist, Detective Sergeant Roberta Steel is a supporting character in the Logan McRae series, but she gets a starring role here. She’s a loud, uncouth lesbian with a reputation for ‘not policing by the rules’. In fact she’s recently been demoted from a DCI to a DS for planting evidence on a suspected sex-offender. In this story Roberta surprises her wife Susan, by belatedly joining her at the ‘society’ wedding of Susan’s colleague Adriana, in a remote Scottish castle. Instead of the romantic gesture towards Susan she’d intended, Roberta insults the insufferable ‘Tory’ hosts and guests, and overindulges terribly. Her drunken, profane metaphors and constant tweaking of her uncomfortable underwear were funny at first but became tiresome after a while. Jokes about tartan decor, taxidermy and whisky-themed rooms were also overused I thought.
With a screaming hangover the next morning, Roberta unexpectedly finds herself heading up a murder investigation, after the bride’s father’s body is found impaled on a stag’s head in the hotel lobby! With communication and roads cut off by a storm, she has only two local ‘plods’ (who were invited to the wedding) to help interrogate the ‘stuffy’ guests. Sir Reginald Bradbury-Scott, the victim, was a crooked politician who’d ripped-off most of the guests in a property scam, so the pool of suspects was vast.
World-weary Sergeant Moore and gormless PC McKinnon were OK as support characters, but I found the interrogations and police procedures slapdash and laughable. The forensic evidence was hopelessly compromised when the corpse was moved to the kitchen refrigerator! I tried to accept the story as the satire I suspect it was intended to be, but it was so silly, I struggled to finish.
In an obvious ‘red-herring’, Albert Nairn, the creepy gamekeeper, suicides (leaving behind a confession), and the case seems closed. However, Roberta (nagged by the seeming collusion of the guests) is determined to have her ‘denouement in the library’. In a blatant nod to ‘Murder on the Orient Express’, the solution to the crime wasn’t really a surprise, but I was disappointed in Roberta’s (and Susan’s) response. While I’m not averse to fiction detectives breaking the odd rule to achieve justice, I like them to be mostly ethical. Roberta’s capitulation and Susan’s acceptance of ‘a promotion at work’ to ‘stay mum’ may have been pragmatic, but they were morally dubious. Roberta Steel just isn’t ‘my cup of tea’.
Readers who choose this book knowing it’s a spoof of classic detective novels and ‘tartan noir’ may well get lots of chuckles from this story. I’m afraid I went into it ‘cold’, and once I realised what I was in for, I persevered, but found it over-exaggerated and unsatisfying.
The protagonist, Detective Sergeant Roberta Steel is a supporting character in the Logan McRae series, but she gets a starring role here. She’s a loud, uncouth lesbian with a reputation for ‘not policing by the rules’. In fact she’s recently been demoted from a DCI to a DS for planting evidence on a suspected sex-offender. In this story Roberta surprises her wife Susan, by belatedly joining her at the ‘society’ wedding of Susan’s colleague Adriana, in a remote Scottish castle. Instead of the romantic gesture towards Susan she’d intended, Roberta insults the insufferable ‘Tory’ hosts and guests, and overindulges terribly. Her drunken, profane metaphors and constant tweaking of her uncomfortable underwear were funny at first but became tiresome after a while. Jokes about tartan decor, taxidermy and whisky-themed rooms were also overused I thought.
With a screaming hangover the next morning, Roberta unexpectedly finds herself heading up a murder investigation, after the bride’s father’s body is found impaled on a stag’s head in the hotel lobby! With communication and roads cut off by a storm, she has only two local ‘plods’ (who were invited to the wedding) to help interrogate the ‘stuffy’ guests. Sir Reginald Bradbury-Scott, the victim, was a crooked politician who’d ripped-off most of the guests in a property scam, so the pool of suspects was vast.
World-weary Sergeant Moore and gormless PC McKinnon were OK as support characters, but I found the interrogations and police procedures slapdash and laughable. The forensic evidence was hopelessly compromised when the corpse was moved to the kitchen refrigerator! I tried to accept the story as the satire I suspect it was intended to be, but it was so silly, I struggled to finish.
In an obvious ‘red-herring’, Albert Nairn, the creepy gamekeeper, suicides (leaving behind a confession), and the case seems closed. However, Roberta (nagged by the seeming collusion of the guests) is determined to have her ‘denouement in the library’. In a blatant nod to ‘Murder on the Orient Express’, the solution to the crime wasn’t really a surprise, but I was disappointed in Roberta’s (and Susan’s) response. While I’m not averse to fiction detectives breaking the odd rule to achieve justice, I like them to be mostly ethical. Roberta’s capitulation and Susan’s acceptance of ‘a promotion at work’ to ‘stay mum’ may have been pragmatic, but they were morally dubious. Roberta Steel just isn’t ‘my cup of tea’.
Readers who choose this book knowing it’s a spoof of classic detective novels and ‘tartan noir’ may well get lots of chuckles from this story. I’m afraid I went into it ‘cold’, and once I realised what I was in for, I persevered, but found it over-exaggerated and unsatisfying.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 20, 2026
In a preface the author states his love of reading, of crime fiction, especially the works of the Golden Age writers and this book is his homage to them.
The beginning is a bit bewildering, the reader is as confused as Steel, as she awakes wondering if she is dead or alive, laid out on the grass. The cause is by her side, an empty bottle of Lagavulin malt whisky and she is suffering from the hangover from hell, one which she fully deserves. She is in the grounds of a country house hotel, having rather overdone it at a wedding party the night before, managing to show herself up and humiliate Susan in front of her work colleagues. Roberta is in a shocking state both physically and in attire, with this never really improving throughout the story.
Facing the ire of wife Susan would be bad enough, but there is a body reported, hung up on the antlers of a decorative stag’s head. The weather is treacherous, the phones are down, the power is out and thanks to Steel having her old warrant card, the one before she was busted down to sergeant, ‘DCI’ Steel outranks the locals and takes charge. The plot is straight out of the era and somewhat preposterous, but that is part of the fun.
Just a wedding would hardly be enough to set Steel off, but this is no ordinary wedding, this is a Tory wedding, the daughter of an MP no less, Sir Reginald Bradbury Scott who becomes the first victim. The hotel has that forced tourist vision of Scotland. The rooms are named after malt whiskies rather than numbers and it’s decorated in a surfeit of tartan; winds Steel up for a rant; finding all the reception tables were named after Margaret Thatcher’s ministers were the final straw. A torrent of sarcasm follows.
Steel is a wonderful creation, a woman who is more boorish, bullying, offensive and abusive as any man, with an absolutely filthy mind to match. A brilliant outlet for insults, wisecracks and choice Scottish vernacular. Constantly dishevelled and in a state of odd or partial dress, allows for some unpleasantly vivid descriptions, such as ‘old faithful’ the once white now grey support bra she favours over the La Perla lingerie Susan buys her. There so much to laugh at, but even though this is a short book, the joke becomes to wear a little thin by the end. This story is a lot of fun, but perhaps the best use of her.
The language and dialogue are hilarious at times and narrator Lesley Harcourt brings a real Scottish flavour to it. There is plenty of humour, bawdy and near the knuckle at times, but certainly not as dark as some of the author’s other works. He loves a touch of the bizarre and this time it involves roadkill, taxidermy, gothic imagination and a mouse ‘mini me’ of Steel.
The beginning is a bit bewildering, the reader is as confused as Steel, as she awakes wondering if she is dead or alive, laid out on the grass. The cause is by her side, an empty bottle of Lagavulin malt whisky and she is suffering from the hangover from hell, one which she fully deserves. She is in the grounds of a country house hotel, having rather overdone it at a wedding party the night before, managing to show herself up and humiliate Susan in front of her work colleagues. Roberta is in a shocking state both physically and in attire, with this never really improving throughout the story.
Facing the ire of wife Susan would be bad enough, but there is a body reported, hung up on the antlers of a decorative stag’s head. The weather is treacherous, the phones are down, the power is out and thanks to Steel having her old warrant card, the one before she was busted down to sergeant, ‘DCI’ Steel outranks the locals and takes charge. The plot is straight out of the era and somewhat preposterous, but that is part of the fun.
Just a wedding would hardly be enough to set Steel off, but this is no ordinary wedding, this is a Tory wedding, the daughter of an MP no less, Sir Reginald Bradbury Scott who becomes the first victim. The hotel has that forced tourist vision of Scotland. The rooms are named after malt whiskies rather than numbers and it’s decorated in a surfeit of tartan; winds Steel up for a rant; finding all the reception tables were named after Margaret Thatcher’s ministers were the final straw. A torrent of sarcasm follows.
Steel is a wonderful creation, a woman who is more boorish, bullying, offensive and abusive as any man, with an absolutely filthy mind to match. A brilliant outlet for insults, wisecracks and choice Scottish vernacular. Constantly dishevelled and in a state of odd or partial dress, allows for some unpleasantly vivid descriptions, such as ‘old faithful’ the once white now grey support bra she favours over the La Perla lingerie Susan buys her. There so much to laugh at, but even though this is a short book, the joke becomes to wear a little thin by the end. This story is a lot of fun, but perhaps the best use of her.
The language and dialogue are hilarious at times and narrator Lesley Harcourt brings a real Scottish flavour to it. There is plenty of humour, bawdy and near the knuckle at times, but certainly not as dark as some of the author’s other works. He loves a touch of the bizarre and this time it involves roadkill, taxidermy, gothic imagination and a mouse ‘mini me’ of Steel.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
To say that Roberta Steel is an acquired taste is a HUGE understatement. She's also very much not everyone's cup of tea. She is very much front and centre herein - I believe her first main character starring role (previously shared the limelight with Tufty in a full length book and also maybe starred in a couple of shorts) and she is definitely larger than life, so, basically, I really wouldn't let this be your first meeting with her...
And anyway... If you haven't already read the author's Logan MacRae series... where have you been...
So... we start with a wedding in a posh Castle Hotel in the Highlands. DS Roberta Steel crashes it, joining her wife Susan who is a guest. Now, if you have read the Logan McRae books, you'll know that our Roberta is not a wilting flower who nods and grins. No... she is full on, in your face, rip roaring life of the party, definitely not on her best behaviour, which is illustrated nicely by her opening scene...
Long story short... there's a death, the Hotel is isolated by the weather, there are two local cops also attending the wedding but Roberta takes the lead as she "forgets" her demotion when introducing herself and becomes highest ranking officer...
We then follow her as she tries to solve the murder by basically making it up as she goes along with absolutely hilarious results and more than a nod to the golden age and Christie.
As I laid down already, Roberta is not everyone's cuppa. But I love her, always have. And the way she is written, her mannerisms, her complete lack of filter when talking, just fits my sense of humour. And don't get me started on her relationship with Susan who must be an absolute saint!
And is all that wasn't enough, the murder she is trying to solve is an absolute doozy. Especially as she has to go proper old school with no scenes of crime, no forensics, no wet weather clothing, and no link to the outside world.
And the jokes, the one liners, the dark humour, all had me laughing out loud - yes I read it on the bus, complete with strange looks and all that...
But yeah... loved it... and it's one I will definitely revisit in Audiobook as soon as I can get my hands on a copy. And, now we all know that she can hold up a book on her own, maybe we can have more of her flying solo in the future... please... My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
And anyway... If you haven't already read the author's Logan MacRae series... where have you been...
So... we start with a wedding in a posh Castle Hotel in the Highlands. DS Roberta Steel crashes it, joining her wife Susan who is a guest. Now, if you have read the Logan McRae books, you'll know that our Roberta is not a wilting flower who nods and grins. No... she is full on, in your face, rip roaring life of the party, definitely not on her best behaviour, which is illustrated nicely by her opening scene...
Long story short... there's a death, the Hotel is isolated by the weather, there are two local cops also attending the wedding but Roberta takes the lead as she "forgets" her demotion when introducing herself and becomes highest ranking officer...
We then follow her as she tries to solve the murder by basically making it up as she goes along with absolutely hilarious results and more than a nod to the golden age and Christie.
As I laid down already, Roberta is not everyone's cuppa. But I love her, always have. And the way she is written, her mannerisms, her complete lack of filter when talking, just fits my sense of humour. And don't get me started on her relationship with Susan who must be an absolute saint!
And is all that wasn't enough, the murder she is trying to solve is an absolute doozy. Especially as she has to go proper old school with no scenes of crime, no forensics, no wet weather clothing, and no link to the outside world.
And the jokes, the one liners, the dark humour, all had me laughing out loud - yes I read it on the bus, complete with strange looks and all that...
But yeah... loved it... and it's one I will definitely revisit in Audiobook as soon as I can get my hands on a copy. And, now we all know that she can hold up a book on her own, maybe we can have more of her flying solo in the future... please... My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This book is brilliantly written and an absolute joy to read, it is a unique and fiendishly clever story that manages to combine a crime caper with a large dose of dark, Scottish humour in a way that may challenge some readers, but for me, worked so well (maybe being Scottish helps) I could not put it down and read it in a day, albeit it is a short book.
In this one, we are reintroduced to D S Roberta Steele, who has appeared alongside D I Logan McRae in many of Stuart MacBride’s previous novels. However, in this story, she is the main protagonist, and we follow her while she tries to investigate a murder at a remote Scottish castle-cum-hotel, where a wedding has just taken place, and where all the guests and staff are now suspects. To make matters worse, they are all cut off from the outside world due to some extremely bad weather.
I laughed out loud at Roberta’s foul-mouthed crudeness, her sarcasm and her irreverence. She is definitely an unconventional, rule-breaking member of the police force, and as such, probably not everyone’s cup of tea, but I enjoyed every bit of nonsense that came out of her mouth. This tale certainly showcases the author’s madcap penmanship and highlights him to be a pure comic genius. There were so many quotes I loved, but my favourite was : “Everything from the waist down’s dripping, and no’ in a sexy way” - and the pages are chock full of these.
I love MacBride’s style of writing, as he normally incorporates some dark cop humour into otherwise serious crime cases, but this book felt different, in my opinion it was more of a Brian Rix-type farce rather than a true crime thriller, but no less readable for that. For my money, this is the author’s homage to Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express, à la Stuart MacBride, of course.
All in all, this is a book that will divide readers for sure, but taken with a little pinch of salt it’s a really great book, which rockets along at a good pace, has a fantastic setting, intriguing characters and some pretty ingenious dialogue.
Publication date - 12th February 2026
Thanks to Net Galley and Pan MacMillan for the advanced copy.
In this one, we are reintroduced to D S Roberta Steele, who has appeared alongside D I Logan McRae in many of Stuart MacBride’s previous novels. However, in this story, she is the main protagonist, and we follow her while she tries to investigate a murder at a remote Scottish castle-cum-hotel, where a wedding has just taken place, and where all the guests and staff are now suspects. To make matters worse, they are all cut off from the outside world due to some extremely bad weather.
I laughed out loud at Roberta’s foul-mouthed crudeness, her sarcasm and her irreverence. She is definitely an unconventional, rule-breaking member of the police force, and as such, probably not everyone’s cup of tea, but I enjoyed every bit of nonsense that came out of her mouth. This tale certainly showcases the author’s madcap penmanship and highlights him to be a pure comic genius. There were so many quotes I loved, but my favourite was : “Everything from the waist down’s dripping, and no’ in a sexy way” - and the pages are chock full of these.
I love MacBride’s style of writing, as he normally incorporates some dark cop humour into otherwise serious crime cases, but this book felt different, in my opinion it was more of a Brian Rix-type farce rather than a true crime thriller, but no less readable for that. For my money, this is the author’s homage to Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express, à la Stuart MacBride, of course.
All in all, this is a book that will divide readers for sure, but taken with a little pinch of salt it’s a really great book, which rockets along at a good pace, has a fantastic setting, intriguing characters and some pretty ingenious dialogue.
Publication date - 12th February 2026
Thanks to Net Galley and Pan MacMillan for the advanced copy.
April 23, 2026
This darkly comical thriller is set in a storm-battered Scottish Highlands hotel cut off from everyone. This is also the setting for a lavish wedding, and a demoted detective who turns up and becomes blinding drunk, demoted, embarrassing her partner (a guest of the wedding) and does not stay in her lane for the entirety of the story. Matched with a grotesquely arranged corpse, hanging on the antlers of a taxidermied stag, this book was a nod to the golden age of mystery fiction.
Detective Sergeant Roberta Steel is like a spark lightning, hitting hard and fast and in no same place twice. She was unpredictable, crass and abrasive, foul-mouthed, and seemed to rely on both instinct and logic at the same time. Steel repeatedly forgot the rules and bulldozed her way through the investigation of the murder. For some, Steel could be described as hilarious. She was unfiltered dialogue, made snap decisions, and had a very bleak internal monologue laced with an acerbic tongue. Some of her jokes and humour was sharp and anarchic. Some of it was a step too far, her dark humour landing less often. Yet I also found that this book never pretended to take itself too seriously along the way, and that’s probably why Steel is how she is depicted.
Steel is definitely a character who will test patience, and did so most of all for Susan, her partner. Some of the one-liners felt knowingly cringeworthy, and her treatment of others, particularly PC McKinnon who was also attending the wedding, seemed overly cruel. I didn’t like the focus on her physical appearance, or on anyone in this book. Maybe that’s a trait of this character from previous books she had appeared in? nevertheless, Steel is chaotic in every sense of the word, and this energy equally matched the investigation of the murder. Without any of her usual policing resources, the investigation became a clever locked room drama affair with a lot of misdirection, discomfort (all those squelchy, wet clothes from the Scottish rain), tumble drying, weird clues, taxidermy, and a genuinely earned reveal.
Detective Sergeant Roberta Steel is like a spark lightning, hitting hard and fast and in no same place twice. She was unpredictable, crass and abrasive, foul-mouthed, and seemed to rely on both instinct and logic at the same time. Steel repeatedly forgot the rules and bulldozed her way through the investigation of the murder. For some, Steel could be described as hilarious. She was unfiltered dialogue, made snap decisions, and had a very bleak internal monologue laced with an acerbic tongue. Some of her jokes and humour was sharp and anarchic. Some of it was a step too far, her dark humour landing less often. Yet I also found that this book never pretended to take itself too seriously along the way, and that’s probably why Steel is how she is depicted.
Steel is definitely a character who will test patience, and did so most of all for Susan, her partner. Some of the one-liners felt knowingly cringeworthy, and her treatment of others, particularly PC McKinnon who was also attending the wedding, seemed overly cruel. I didn’t like the focus on her physical appearance, or on anyone in this book. Maybe that’s a trait of this character from previous books she had appeared in? nevertheless, Steel is chaotic in every sense of the word, and this energy equally matched the investigation of the murder. Without any of her usual policing resources, the investigation became a clever locked room drama affair with a lot of misdirection, discomfort (all those squelchy, wet clothes from the Scottish rain), tumble drying, weird clues, taxidermy, and a genuinely earned reveal.
April 20, 2026
‘And the Corpse Wore Tartan’ delivers as a light-hearted, quick, and entertaining crime story. This isn’t a heavy, deeply intricate murder mystery—instead, it leans into humour, character dynamics, and an almost satirical take on the genre.
That worked for me in parts, especially through the supporting cast. Moore and McKinnon were genuinely likeable, and I found myself particularly warming to McKinnon and his flaws. There was something quite human and grounded about him that balanced the more exaggerated elements of the story.
Steel, on the other hand, was a harder sell. I found her abrasive, often crude, and at times difficult to connect with. While I can see that this is very much intentional, it did create a bit of distance for me as a reader. That said, it also made my favourite scene near the end all the more satisfying.
The reveal scene—where Steel gathers everyone together expecting to expose the killer—was a standout. The twist that the entire group had been colluding, and that Moore and McKinnon were part of the deception, completely flipped the dynamic. It was particularly interesting to see just how far off the mark Steel was, and how her perception of others as incompetent or inferior had led her to miss something so significant. There’s something compelling about watching a character so confident in their own judgment be proven wrong.
However, we never actually find out who the killer is. As someone new to Stuart MacBride’s work, I wasn’t sure if this is typical of his style, but it left me with mixed feelings. On one hand, it reinforces the idea of collective responsibility and moral ambiguity; on the other, it takes away some of the satisfaction you usually expect from a crime novel.
Overall, this was a fun and easy read with some clever twists and engaging character moments. However, if you’re looking for a tightly plotted, in-depth murder mystery with a clear resolution, this may not fully hit the mark.
Rating: 3★
That worked for me in parts, especially through the supporting cast. Moore and McKinnon were genuinely likeable, and I found myself particularly warming to McKinnon and his flaws. There was something quite human and grounded about him that balanced the more exaggerated elements of the story.
Steel, on the other hand, was a harder sell. I found her abrasive, often crude, and at times difficult to connect with. While I can see that this is very much intentional, it did create a bit of distance for me as a reader. That said, it also made my favourite scene near the end all the more satisfying.
The reveal scene—where Steel gathers everyone together expecting to expose the killer—was a standout. The twist that the entire group had been colluding, and that Moore and McKinnon were part of the deception, completely flipped the dynamic. It was particularly interesting to see just how far off the mark Steel was, and how her perception of others as incompetent or inferior had led her to miss something so significant. There’s something compelling about watching a character so confident in their own judgment be proven wrong.
However, we never actually find out who the killer is. As someone new to Stuart MacBride’s work, I wasn’t sure if this is typical of his style, but it left me with mixed feelings. On one hand, it reinforces the idea of collective responsibility and moral ambiguity; on the other, it takes away some of the satisfaction you usually expect from a crime novel.
Overall, this was a fun and easy read with some clever twists and engaging character moments. However, if you’re looking for a tightly plotted, in-depth murder mystery with a clear resolution, this may not fully hit the mark.
Rating: 3★
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
~ Werbung, weil NetGalley Rezensionsexemplar. Alle Meinungen meine eigenen. ~
Roberta Steel, ihres Zeichens ungeschlachte Polizistin ohne Blatt vor dem schottischen Mund, will ihre Frau bei einem romantischen Wochenende überraschen. Das Problem? Ihre Frau Susan ist bei einer Hochzeit in den schottischen Highlands und Roberta steht nicht auf der Gästeliste.
Was passiert, wenn man eine lesbische Polizistin, die sich bei jeder Frau vorstellt, wie sie wohl im Bett ist, in einen Raum voller erzkonservativer Tories steckt? Richtig, die gute Frau besäuft sich, um das zu ertragen und ruiniert dann die Hochzeit, weil sie den Vater der Braut vermöbelt, weil der ihre Frau angegangen hat.
Problem: Am nächsten Morgen gibt's eine aufgespießte Leiche und die hart verkaterte Frau muss einen Mordfall lösen, denn es gewittert heftig. Dadurch sind die Telefonleitungen (und sporadisch auch der Strom) tot und die einzige Brücke raus bricht unter der Wasserlast zusammen...
Roberta Steel ist Lesenden der Logan McRae-Reihe wohlbekannt, dies ist ihr erstes eigenes Abenteuer - ich habe die Reihe nicht gelesen und kann euch daher sagen: Ihr könnt dieses Buch bedenkenlos als Einzelband betrachten. Es gibt zwar einen Bezug darauf, dass ihre Visitenkarten veraltet sind, aber das ist nicht wirklich handlungsrelevant.
Das Ambiente ist herrlich schottisch - von den zahlreichen guten Whiskys, die die gute Roberta verputzt, über die Landschaftsbeschreibungen hin zu den zahlreichen Tartans, deren Buntheit ihr verkatertes Auge quälen, fühlte ich mich direkt wohl.
Mit dem Ende war ich allerdings nicht einverstanden... aber das muss wohl jeder mit sich selbst ausmachen.
"[Her tongue felt] like a mouldy flip-flop marinated in someone else's vomit, then set on fire."
~ 08.02.2026
Roberta Steel, ihres Zeichens ungeschlachte Polizistin ohne Blatt vor dem schottischen Mund, will ihre Frau bei einem romantischen Wochenende überraschen. Das Problem? Ihre Frau Susan ist bei einer Hochzeit in den schottischen Highlands und Roberta steht nicht auf der Gästeliste.
Was passiert, wenn man eine lesbische Polizistin, die sich bei jeder Frau vorstellt, wie sie wohl im Bett ist, in einen Raum voller erzkonservativer Tories steckt? Richtig, die gute Frau besäuft sich, um das zu ertragen und ruiniert dann die Hochzeit, weil sie den Vater der Braut vermöbelt, weil der ihre Frau angegangen hat.
Problem: Am nächsten Morgen gibt's eine aufgespießte Leiche und die hart verkaterte Frau muss einen Mordfall lösen, denn es gewittert heftig. Dadurch sind die Telefonleitungen (und sporadisch auch der Strom) tot und die einzige Brücke raus bricht unter der Wasserlast zusammen...
Roberta Steel ist Lesenden der Logan McRae-Reihe wohlbekannt, dies ist ihr erstes eigenes Abenteuer - ich habe die Reihe nicht gelesen und kann euch daher sagen: Ihr könnt dieses Buch bedenkenlos als Einzelband betrachten. Es gibt zwar einen Bezug darauf, dass ihre Visitenkarten veraltet sind, aber das ist nicht wirklich handlungsrelevant.
Das Ambiente ist herrlich schottisch - von den zahlreichen guten Whiskys, die die gute Roberta verputzt, über die Landschaftsbeschreibungen hin zu den zahlreichen Tartans, deren Buntheit ihr verkatertes Auge quälen, fühlte ich mich direkt wohl.
Mit dem Ende war ich allerdings nicht einverstanden... aber das muss wohl jeder mit sich selbst ausmachen.
"[Her tongue felt] like a mouldy flip-flop marinated in someone else's vomit, then set on fire."
~ 08.02.2026
February 16, 2026
Stuart MacBride is one of the great exponents of Scottish crime fiction, aka Tartan Noir with a couple of awards and plenty of shortlists to his name. In his latest book And the Corpse Wore Tartan he brings to the center one of his most beloved and annoying creations – Detective Sergeant Roberta Steel - and drops her into an Agatha Chistie-style murder mystery, although one with plenty of sly winking to the readers.
And the Corpse Wore Tartan declares its intentions from the first page in which Roberta Steel is found spectacularly hungover in a field outside a stately castle hotel in the Scottish Highlands. It turns out that she came to surprise her wife who was attending the wedding of a work colleague and managed to spectacularly disgrace herself at the reception. Things go from bad to worse when the father of the bride is discovered half naked and impaled on a stag’s head and the hotel is cut off from the rest of the world by a storm. Fortunately the father of the groom is a policeman and, together with his offsider, is dragooned by Steel into investigating.
The fun of this book comes from MacBride’s own enjoyment in putting the foul-mouthed, hard drinking, always hungry, judgmental Roberta Steel in the middle of an upper-class manor house mystery full of secrets and suspects. Being Scotland, the incessant rain (which Roberta often finds herself out in) feels like a character in and of itself. And then there are the nods to the grand traditions of the golden age of crime (Murder on the Orient Express even gets name checked at one point) which Roberta blithely ploughs through.
DS Roberta Steel may well put some readers off. But she is certainly unique and possibly an acquired taste (her long suffering wife Susan obviously thinks so). And she is the driving force behind this slyly enjoyable Scottish crime novel.
And the Corpse Wore Tartan declares its intentions from the first page in which Roberta Steel is found spectacularly hungover in a field outside a stately castle hotel in the Scottish Highlands. It turns out that she came to surprise her wife who was attending the wedding of a work colleague and managed to spectacularly disgrace herself at the reception. Things go from bad to worse when the father of the bride is discovered half naked and impaled on a stag’s head and the hotel is cut off from the rest of the world by a storm. Fortunately the father of the groom is a policeman and, together with his offsider, is dragooned by Steel into investigating.
The fun of this book comes from MacBride’s own enjoyment in putting the foul-mouthed, hard drinking, always hungry, judgmental Roberta Steel in the middle of an upper-class manor house mystery full of secrets and suspects. Being Scotland, the incessant rain (which Roberta often finds herself out in) feels like a character in and of itself. And then there are the nods to the grand traditions of the golden age of crime (Murder on the Orient Express even gets name checked at one point) which Roberta blithely ploughs through.
DS Roberta Steel may well put some readers off. But she is certainly unique and possibly an acquired taste (her long suffering wife Susan obviously thinks so). And she is the driving force behind this slyly enjoyable Scottish crime novel.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
And the Corpse Wore Tartan is a wickedly entertaining blend of dark humour and classic crime thriller chaos — the kind of book that lets you laugh at the absurdity of murder one moment and lean in, genuinely tense, the next.
DS Roberta Steel is an absolute menace in the best possible way. She crashes the Highland wedding of the year with all the grace of a wrecking ball, gets catastrophically drunk, and then wakes up to find herself the only detective available when the father of the bride turns up artistically impaled on a stag’s head in the hotel lobby. It’s grisly, it’s dramatic, and it’s exactly the sort of crime scene Steel deserves to stumble into.
The storm‑cut valley and isolated Skirivour Castle Hotel give the story a deliciously claustrophobic edge. With no way out, no phone lines, and a lobby decorated with a corpse, every wedding guest becomes a suspect — and Steel, nursing a hangover that could qualify as a medical emergency, has to piece together the truth with only a weary sergeant and a constable who’s… let’s say not firing on all cylinders.
MacBride’s trademark dark humour shines here. The dialogue snaps, the character interactions are gloriously unfiltered, and Steel’s internal monologue is a masterclass in chaotic brilliance. Yet beneath the comedy, the mystery is genuinely tight: clever clues, sharp twists, and a killer reveal that feels earned.
It’s a crime thriller that never forgets to have fun — sharp, irreverent, and just twisted enough to keep you on edge. A brilliantly dark, laugh‑out‑loud murder mystery with a beating thriller heart. DS Steel steals every scene, and the Highlands have rarely felt so deadly or so entertaining.
My thanks to Stuart McBride, the publisher and netgalley for the ARC
DS Roberta Steel is an absolute menace in the best possible way. She crashes the Highland wedding of the year with all the grace of a wrecking ball, gets catastrophically drunk, and then wakes up to find herself the only detective available when the father of the bride turns up artistically impaled on a stag’s head in the hotel lobby. It’s grisly, it’s dramatic, and it’s exactly the sort of crime scene Steel deserves to stumble into.
The storm‑cut valley and isolated Skirivour Castle Hotel give the story a deliciously claustrophobic edge. With no way out, no phone lines, and a lobby decorated with a corpse, every wedding guest becomes a suspect — and Steel, nursing a hangover that could qualify as a medical emergency, has to piece together the truth with only a weary sergeant and a constable who’s… let’s say not firing on all cylinders.
MacBride’s trademark dark humour shines here. The dialogue snaps, the character interactions are gloriously unfiltered, and Steel’s internal monologue is a masterclass in chaotic brilliance. Yet beneath the comedy, the mystery is genuinely tight: clever clues, sharp twists, and a killer reveal that feels earned.
It’s a crime thriller that never forgets to have fun — sharp, irreverent, and just twisted enough to keep you on edge. A brilliantly dark, laugh‑out‑loud murder mystery with a beating thriller heart. DS Steel steals every scene, and the Highlands have rarely felt so deadly or so entertaining.
My thanks to Stuart McBride, the publisher and netgalley for the ARC
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