Raw Bone: A MacNeice Mystery

MacNeice #3

by Scott Thornley

On a cold morning in early spring, the body of a young woman is found trapped in the ice of Dundurn Bay. The next day at dawn, a homeless man discovers an unconscious school teacher in a public park. Gagged and bound with duct tape, the man is rigged to an elaborate bomb that’s been set to blow if anyone attempts to free him.

Detective Superintendent MacNeice and his team are called in to investigate the two seemingly unrelated crimes, and quickly find themselves venturing into the dive bars and rooming houses of Dundurn, where Irish immigrants rub elbows with mercenaries and the city’s criminal underclass.

Raw Bone is the third suspense-filled installment in Scott Thornley’s critically acclaimed MacNeice Mysteries series.

Genres: Mystery, Canada

304 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2015

Reviews

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this story was grittier than I usually like, it's a good series, set in Hamilton, Ontario, called Dundurn here (after the castle, which is one of Hamilton's tourist attractions). This tale was interesting in that there are three murders (and one death from collateral damage), which may or may not be related. MacNeice, still mourning the death of his wife some years before, has a keen mind and an intuitive sense which doesn't let him down.

[Alyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

So worth the reread! Now that Raw Bone has been published in paper, this reader somehow had an easier time picking up the gentle nuance that exists in Thornley's prose. How did I miss on the first read that MacNeice learned that joy and sorrow don't fly together? From a conversation with a bird? Or the humour that includes a T-shirt printed with the slogan "Teachers Do It Literally"? So funny! Lots of dead bodies abound again in this latest in the detective series, yet, though MacNeice bears witness to all of them in the course of his work, it does not harden him to the experience of death. Achingly tender and outstandingly beautiful is his description of his late wife's demise that he offers up to a troubled teen. Make no mistake, for the fans of gore, there is plenty here, in very visual and graphic detail that is scripted authentically. I can so see this series translating to the screen and me binge watching on Netflix. Mac and Fiza need to work this thing of theirs out, and I can't wait to watch it unfold. I'll be reading Vantage Point in November! Yay!

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just love the MacNeice series!
My husband got me into these books because he went to school with Scott Thornley and lived in Hamilton. So many of the references are to areas in Hamilton and I would share parts of the books with him when they were referenced.
This is the 3rd in the series.
I really like the MC. He is compassionate about his job, treats his friends, and colleagues with respect and is just an all round likeable guy. Now when I read his books I have something in common with him as I've lost my one true love just as MacNeice has.
I identify with his love of nature and his outlook on life.
Despite this book being a bit grizzly, it was another one I just hated to put down.
Please Scott, don't stop writing. I thoroughly enjoy your books.

[Jean-paul Audouy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, that was eventful! Not just the story (or stories, at least two separate sets of murders) but also the rollercoaster of feelings of most of the characters. Love, fatherhood, motherhood, friendship, all intense but skewed by secrets, lies, deception. It is probably the best part of the novel. I read the last 250 pages in almost one sitting. Couldn’t put the book down, that’s how involved I was. As the series goes every new book is getting better. Happy to read the next one but I’ll take my time. I want to digest this one first.

[Julie Kubitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit I love the Macneice series. That being said, Raw Bone was one of the harder of the series to read. There were two cases going on and at times it was a little hard to keep track of which one was which, there were a lot of characters to keep track of. Never the less in the last 75 pages or so it became very hard to put down. So I didn't, until the very end. I have ordered Vantage Point, ready to see of Macneice and Fiza end up together......

[Wendy Hearder-moan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I WAS warned that all the grisly murders in this book might put me off. Better not to think too much about any one of them…pretty horrible deaths, all of them. Because two unrelated cases were going on at the same time, it was a challenge to keep the characters straight. More than once I was glad I was reading an e-book so I could easily search for previous mentions of a person or place. All that aside, it was a good read. MacNeice and Aliza are interesting characters.

[Caroline Ingvaldsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third MacNeice mystery is a thoroughly satisfying police procedural: set again in Hamilton, reimagined as Dundurn, horrific crime is balanced by the actions of well-drawn and well-meaning characters.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, would have gone to 4 but some of these murders and other criminal activities are a bit too gritty for me! I am racing through the series though. Seeing Hamilton (Dundurn in the books) through new eyes. Not sure what I think about my new perspective on Cootes Paradise.

[Cybercrone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun to read a story set in a city I've just recently moved to and try to figure out where things are.
Good story, decent characters.

[Donna Mcnab · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am really enjoying the Scott Thornley books. It is always good to find a new author that you like to read. Great characters and fascinating story lines.

[Lyle Lawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read!

[Jreader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Foreign writer, many characters, speech was hard to follow, seemed very wordy. I almost feel a need to apologize for not liking it very much.

[Wendy Cowley · Rating 4 out of 5]

audio book

[Alyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yay, MacNeice is back! Disappointing to me is that the novel is only currently available as an ebook. I'm sure that the Detective Superintendent himself would be a little displeased at not having available to him the sensory pleasures of holding a book in his hands. MacNeice would lament the absence of the uncoated or smooth grain of the paper, the sound of the pages turning or a pencil scratching out a notation in a margin, the scent of printed ink or old dust within the contents of the jacket, or the way sunlight graces the surface of the text as clouds in the sky finally part.

Not disappointing, however, is author Scott Thornley's riveting and vivid storyline. Little red wagons and their cargo will never to me appear the same. Ever! Grisly and creative are the murders committed in this third book in the series. MacNeice, too, takes quite a heavy beating, more than once this time around, yet both his body and mind prevail. And so does his tenderness.

The story of MacNeice, the man, is again as big a draw as all the crime and mystery in this action packed novel. I am quite certain that it will not be only the other officers that are happy that our detective finally gets laid in Book Three of the series. But, but, Aziz? Thornley's clever suspense will keep us waiting with baited breath for Book Four.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A page turner with strong main and secondary characters set in Dundurn (Hamilton). Cootes Bay will never be the same.

[Ted Cartier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Interesting characters

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This had a lot of violence - but a lot of heart as well. I like MacNeice better with each book.