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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.
‘A masterful storyteller’ – Karin Slaughter, author of After That Night
A Highland hotel, a dead politician – and one killer hangover . . .
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
‘A masterful storyteller’ – Karin Slaughter, author of After That Night
A Highland hotel, a dead politician – and one killer hangover . . .
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
107 books2,850 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 206 reviews
October 26, 2026
This short crime novel is the 2nd outing featuring "DS Roberta Steel" as our main protagonist.
In this short crime story she will be assisted by local police officers, Sergeant Moore and PC McKinnon.
Storytelling is excellent, although, and this especially for the humourless people around us, an important matter is that you should really appreciate the author's kind of humour about the Tories to really like this very enjoyable police procedural.
The crime story is about the murder of Sir Reginald Bradbury-Scott, a pompous Tory figure, who after a Tory wedding and feast is found dead hanging in the Skirivour Castle Hotel, and for DS Roberta Steel and her two men a difficult case to solve.
As it turns out this murder has everything that is based on the "Murder on the Orient Express", along with the Motto "Let's Stick Together", but this time with a slightly different outcome.
What is to follow, if you like the author's tongue in cheek comments about the Tories, is a delightful short crime novel with DS Roberta Steel at her very lovable and grumpy best.
Very much recommended, for this is a worthwhile addition to this eventful and remarkable series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "A Very Likeable Tartan Corpse"!
In this short crime story she will be assisted by local police officers, Sergeant Moore and PC McKinnon.
Storytelling is excellent, although, and this especially for the humourless people around us, an important matter is that you should really appreciate the author's kind of humour about the Tories to really like this very enjoyable police procedural.
The crime story is about the murder of Sir Reginald Bradbury-Scott, a pompous Tory figure, who after a Tory wedding and feast is found dead hanging in the Skirivour Castle Hotel, and for DS Roberta Steel and her two men a difficult case to solve.
As it turns out this murder has everything that is based on the "Murder on the Orient Express", along with the Motto "Let's Stick Together", but this time with a slightly different outcome.
What is to follow, if you like the author's tongue in cheek comments about the Tories, is a delightful short crime novel with DS Roberta Steel at her very lovable and grumpy best.
Very much recommended, for this is a worthwhile addition to this eventful and remarkable series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "A Very Likeable Tartan Corpse"!
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.
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)
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
The great and the not-so-good are gathered at Skivivour 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 has 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 stags head in the hotel lobby, it's up to DS Steel to find out whodunit. Which isn't easy when you've got a massive hangover and only a world-weary sergeant and a halfwit police constable for backup.
What a fantastic book this is. DS Roberta Steel has appeared in the DI Logan McRae series. She is attending a wedding at Skivivour Castle Hotel with her wife. She's not everybody's cup of tea, but she gets the job done. Even though a murder is being investigated, there is also some humour to.
Published 12th February 2026
I would like to thank #NetGalley #PanMacmillan and the author #SturatMacBride for my ARC of #AndTheCorpseWoreTartan in exchange for an honest review.
What a fantastic book this is. DS Roberta Steel has appeared in the DI Logan McRae series. She is attending a wedding at Skivivour Castle Hotel with her wife. She's not everybody's cup of tea, but she gets the job done. Even though a murder is being investigated, there is also some humour to.
Published 12th February 2026
I would like to thank #NetGalley #PanMacmillan and the author #SturatMacBride for my ARC of #AndTheCorpseWoreTartan in exchange for an honest review.
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 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.
April 9, 2026
When I ordered the hardback copy from my local library I'd forgotten how much I'd disliked the hugely disagreeable, not to say sexually-abusive, main character when I read #1 in this series ... I won't make the same mistake again! After the first fifty pages, with no indication that she might have any saving graces, I decided not to waste any more time in her company and returned the book to the library!
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.
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!
October 26, 2026
I read this book during my plane journey and laughed out loud quite a lot. It was very funny and entertaining with some exaggerated characters- Tories ws woke lesbians 🤣
The main character is a bit over the top, and the end of the story is a bit strange, but it was a good book to read during travels, not too long and easy to follow.
The main character is a bit over the top, and the end of the story is a bit strange, but it was a good book to read during travels, not too long and easy to follow.
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
May 5, 2026
I really struggled reading this. Roberta was a thoroughly unlikeable character. Her sex focus was relentless and frankly creepy. I really struggled to get through the crass and lazy writing, but I liked the concept of a locked-door murder mystery and was hoping for an interesting ending. The resolution of the murder mystery was so unsatisfying and unrealistic. It felt like such a strange and lazy way to finish the story without really knowing who killed him or how the murder happened. The worst book I’ve read in a long time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 12, 2026
Really really really bad.
Awful characters, repetition, nicknames for everyone example : Lord Thingumy-BingBong used for the whole book 🙄 endless harping on about knickers.
Roberta portrayed as a lecherous lesbian. It makes me wonder why authors like Karin slaughter and lee child would allow their comments on the cover . Not worth buying or even borrowing, don’t waste your time. Honestly only read to chapter 4 then skim read to see if it was as awful all the way though - it was…
Awful characters, repetition, nicknames for everyone example : Lord Thingumy-BingBong used for the whole book 🙄 endless harping on about knickers.
Roberta portrayed as a lecherous lesbian. It makes me wonder why authors like Karin slaughter and lee child would allow their comments on the cover . Not worth buying or even borrowing, don’t waste your time. Honestly only read to chapter 4 then skim read to see if it was as awful all the way though - it was…
July 7, 2026
There is crude and then there is crude. All the crap that comes out of her is just so unnecessary and doesn't further the story, if there is even one, along. I couldn't finish. I've read a lot of the one-star reviews and I agree with them. I won't be trying anymore of this author's books.
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.
October 31, 2026
Crikey, what a mess.
The second MacBride book I've attempted. The last MacBride book I will attempt. A big pile of "yikes" all round.
Firstly the two positives. The setting was great: an eerie Scottish estate with a cast of dislikable aristocratic sorts and their underlings. Executed excellently with great atmosphere. Secondly, the murder mystery plot was on the whole good and achieved with relative success.
But with that comes the mountain of complaints.
Firstly, the protagonist was insufferable for the majority of the book, swinging between a sneering sociopath and a pervert obsessed with breasts and bums. The fact that MacBride wrote such a crass character and described other female characters in a manner that would get most other authors of any genre crucified, is staggering to me. On its own, it's just a bit weird, but with context applied it was almost uncomfortable.
Attempts at humour also fell flat, primarily because half the book was actually funny and the other half was trying to be funny, so I was wagering on whether I would cackle or eye roll with each fresh sentence. The nature of the protagonist did not help the matter, or how convoluted some of the comparisons were.
And equally - avoiding spoilers - the book ended weirdly as well. It was gearing up to a full length murder mystery investigation, and then from all outward appearances MacBride got bored and just pulled "Convenient Murderer #1" out of a hat to close things off. And even the sequence after that felt unfinished and a bit lacklustre, with everyone almost shrugging their shoulders. I'm not sure whether it was aiming to he poignant or witty, but it achieved neither.
Overall, I cannot recommend this book nor would I want to. Both as a writer and a reader, I cannot fathom why some of the narrative and character choices were made in this book. As I said in the beginning: crikey, what a mess.
The second MacBride book I've attempted. The last MacBride book I will attempt. A big pile of "yikes" all round.
Firstly the two positives. The setting was great: an eerie Scottish estate with a cast of dislikable aristocratic sorts and their underlings. Executed excellently with great atmosphere. Secondly, the murder mystery plot was on the whole good and achieved with relative success.
But with that comes the mountain of complaints.
Firstly, the protagonist was insufferable for the majority of the book, swinging between a sneering sociopath and a pervert obsessed with breasts and bums. The fact that MacBride wrote such a crass character and described other female characters in a manner that would get most other authors of any genre crucified, is staggering to me. On its own, it's just a bit weird, but with context applied it was almost uncomfortable.
Attempts at humour also fell flat, primarily because half the book was actually funny and the other half was trying to be funny, so I was wagering on whether I would cackle or eye roll with each fresh sentence. The nature of the protagonist did not help the matter, or how convoluted some of the comparisons were.
And equally - avoiding spoilers - the book ended weirdly as well. It was gearing up to a full length murder mystery investigation, and then from all outward appearances MacBride got bored and just pulled "Convenient Murderer #1" out of a hat to close things off. And even the sequence after that felt unfinished and a bit lacklustre, with everyone almost shrugging their shoulders. I'm not sure whether it was aiming to he poignant or witty, but it achieved neither.
Overall, I cannot recommend this book nor would I want to. Both as a writer and a reader, I cannot fathom why some of the narrative and character choices were made in this book. As I said in the beginning: crikey, what a mess.
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.
October 13, 2026
Roberta Steel at her very best. I love her swearwords and she has a delightful turn of phrase.
She decides to surprise Susan [her wife] at a wedding in the highlands of Scotland.
Unfortunately the wedding party are mostly tories which Roberta does not like. So she gets hammered [extremely drunk] and wakes up outside with the gameskeeper standing over her.
Things get worse when the father of the bride is found skewered on the antlers of a stag in the entrance of the hotel.
As MacBride wrote this in an Agatha Christie style, no resolution is really found. Next book reserved at the library already.
She decides to surprise Susan [her wife] at a wedding in the highlands of Scotland.
Unfortunately the wedding party are mostly tories which Roberta does not like. So she gets hammered [extremely drunk] and wakes up outside with the gameskeeper standing over her.
Things get worse when the father of the bride is found skewered on the antlers of a stag in the entrance of the hotel.
As MacBride wrote this in an Agatha Christie style, no resolution is really found. Next book reserved at the library already.
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...
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
3.5 stars
This was an entertaining, darkly funny read with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments — even if it dragged a little in parts. Set during a wedding at a remote, crumbling mansion in the Scottish Highlands, the atmosphere is delightfully claustrophobic: a violent storm cuts everyone off from the outside world, with no roads and no phone service.
When the thoroughly unpleasant father of the bride is found murdered, it quickly becomes clear that every single guest has a motive — and no shortage of reasons to want him dead. Enter the detective in charge: politically incorrect, gloriously quirky, and nursing a monumental hangover, backed up only by a world-weary sergeant and a halfwit constable. The character dynamics are a highlight and where much of the humour really shines.
While the ending was a bit of a letdown for me, the journey getting there was still fun, sharp, and often ridiculous in the best way. Overall, a darkly humorous, locked-room-style mystery that doesn’t take itself too seriously and makes for an entertaining read.
This was an entertaining, darkly funny read with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments — even if it dragged a little in parts. Set during a wedding at a remote, crumbling mansion in the Scottish Highlands, the atmosphere is delightfully claustrophobic: a violent storm cuts everyone off from the outside world, with no roads and no phone service.
When the thoroughly unpleasant father of the bride is found murdered, it quickly becomes clear that every single guest has a motive — and no shortage of reasons to want him dead. Enter the detective in charge: politically incorrect, gloriously quirky, and nursing a monumental hangover, backed up only by a world-weary sergeant and a halfwit constable. The character dynamics are a highlight and where much of the humour really shines.
While the ending was a bit of a letdown for me, the journey getting there was still fun, sharp, and often ridiculous in the best way. Overall, a darkly humorous, locked-room-style mystery that doesn’t take itself too seriously and makes for an entertaining read.
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