What do you think?
Rate this book
Kellen Stewart #3
Stronger Than Death
Sometimes tragedies come in waves. First Eric, irrepressible, indestructible, climbing alone. Second Joey choking, drunk - though not much more so than usual - the night after his great triumph. But then there was the statistician, overdosing on Flatliners he thought were something else. Three is a series, not a coincidence: three men dead, three colleagues with a shared past. A past that is shared by the one person Kellen Stewart would trust with her life, pathologist Lee Adams. Suspect number one.
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 4, 1999
12 people are currently reading
132 people want to read
About the author
Manda Scott
29 books730 followersManda Scott is an award-winning novelist, host of the international chart-topping Accidental Gods podcast and co-creator of the Thrutopia Masterclass.
Best known for the Boudica: Dreaming series, her previous novels have been short-listed for the Orange Prize, the Edgar, Wilbur Smith and Saltire Awards and won the McIllvanney Prize.
Her latest novel ANY HUMAN POWER is a 'seismic' Mytho-Political thriller which lays out a Thrutopian road map to a flourishing future we’d be proud to leave to the generations that come after us.
Welding the power of intergenerational connection to combat the sting of death and the vicious vengeance of a dying establishment, it opens the doors to a new way of being.
Dream Deeply. Rise up Strong. Change is Coming!
'Instantly immersive and compelling, rich and strange, human and humane, and most of all inspiring ... an extraordinary story.’
Lee Child
"One of our best, most challenging writers is back..." Ian Rankin
"If you don't believe a world where our democracy improves as fast as our devices is possible... Manda Scott will change your mind with this visionary novel." Audrey Tang, Digital Minister of Taiwan
"A light to guide us through a difficult time: Descrying the thin possible path between static social decay and populist rage is the defining problem of our time. Without lights like Manda Scott and this blessed book, we would surely fail." Glen Weil, co-author of Plurality.
Best known for the Boudica: Dreaming series, her previous novels have been short-listed for the Orange Prize, the Edgar, Wilbur Smith and Saltire Awards and won the McIllvanney Prize.
Her latest novel ANY HUMAN POWER is a 'seismic' Mytho-Political thriller which lays out a Thrutopian road map to a flourishing future we’d be proud to leave to the generations that come after us.
Welding the power of intergenerational connection to combat the sting of death and the vicious vengeance of a dying establishment, it opens the doors to a new way of being.
Dream Deeply. Rise up Strong. Change is Coming!
'Instantly immersive and compelling, rich and strange, human and humane, and most of all inspiring ... an extraordinary story.’
Lee Child
"One of our best, most challenging writers is back..." Ian Rankin
"If you don't believe a world where our democracy improves as fast as our devices is possible... Manda Scott will change your mind with this visionary novel." Audrey Tang, Digital Minister of Taiwan
"A light to guide us through a difficult time: Descrying the thin possible path between static social decay and populist rage is the defining problem of our time. Without lights like Manda Scott and this blessed book, we would surely fail." Glen Weil, co-author of Plurality.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 21, 2018
Real Rating: 3.5* of five
In 1999, I lived in Austin, Texas, again after 13 years' absence. I dealt with a sense of isolation by reading (shocking, I know) and preferentially of QUILTBAG writers. I found this series about a Scottish lesbian vet at BookPeople's airport kiosk and was immediately hooked.
Read all three in less than a week. I might go looking for them again for a sentimental re-read.
In 1999, I lived in Austin, Texas, again after 13 years' absence. I dealt with a sense of isolation by reading (shocking, I know) and preferentially of QUILTBAG writers. I found this series about a Scottish lesbian vet at BookPeople's airport kiosk and was immediately hooked.
Read all three in less than a week. I might go looking for them again for a sentimental re-read.
June 8, 2022
4 stars- Dutch paperback
Medics have a way of organising cases. The first one you see is: 'in my experience'. Two becomes 'case after case'. Three is a series.
In medicine, as in crime, three is the magic number that makes a syndrome real - or that turns death from a frightening accident,an unfortunate end to a night of heavy drinking, or a ridiculous overdose into a series. And that means the killer, too, has a label. Three men are dead, three colleagues with a shared past, a past also shared by the one person Kellen Stewart would trust with her life: pathologist Lee Adams. Suspect number one in this fast, hard-edged thriller. Set in Scotland, the action takes us to the rocks of the west coast and back to the farm in the Campsie.
The tragedies began with the death of Dr. Eric Dalzeil found dead on a cliff overlooking the sea. The second to die is Dr. Joey Duncan, who choked to death when he failed to roll over while puking all the alcohol that he consumed that evening. This was followed with the death of another medical person Martin Coutts. The police think coincidence is too much and wonder if a serial killer is on the loose. Therapist Kellen Stewart knows the link between the three dead people, Lee, and herself.
This is a well-written medical suspense thriller that will please fans who enjoy a who-done-it more than a scientific based tale. You will not find that in this novel.
Medics have a way of organising cases. The first one you see is: 'in my experience'. Two becomes 'case after case'. Three is a series.
In medicine, as in crime, three is the magic number that makes a syndrome real - or that turns death from a frightening accident,an unfortunate end to a night of heavy drinking, or a ridiculous overdose into a series. And that means the killer, too, has a label. Three men are dead, three colleagues with a shared past, a past also shared by the one person Kellen Stewart would trust with her life: pathologist Lee Adams. Suspect number one in this fast, hard-edged thriller. Set in Scotland, the action takes us to the rocks of the west coast and back to the farm in the Campsie.
The tragedies began with the death of Dr. Eric Dalzeil found dead on a cliff overlooking the sea. The second to die is Dr. Joey Duncan, who choked to death when he failed to roll over while puking all the alcohol that he consumed that evening. This was followed with the death of another medical person Martin Coutts. The police think coincidence is too much and wonder if a serial killer is on the loose. Therapist Kellen Stewart knows the link between the three dead people, Lee, and herself.
This is a well-written medical suspense thriller that will please fans who enjoy a who-done-it more than a scientific based tale. You will not find that in this novel.
June 21, 2024
I really enjoyed this book, I knew nothing about climbing I don't know a lot now but understand a bit more.
October 30, 2024
Niet mijn boek. Wel goed geschreven maar pakte mij niet. Tijdje weggelegd en daarna uitgelezen.
Einde was wel bevredigend.
Einde was wel bevredigend.
July 29, 2020
I've made it my unofficial goal in life to read every Scottish crime novel I can find, ever since discovering Laidlaw so many years ago (speaking of Laidlaw, did anyone else wonder if Hen's Teeth gave a nod to McIlvanney? Not a flattering one if so, and I've enjoyed wondering about it.). Over the years I've managed to keep a map of sorts in my mind, each major Scottish city pinned with the local detective. At one point I even got obsessive enough to try and plot each location given in the Rebus series. It was a form of tourism, I suppose.
I mention this because, near the end of Stronger Than Death, my mind rather randomly put it together that Kellen Stewart and Maureen O'Donnell were experiencing their own kinds of trauma around the same time. I looked it up, and sure enough, Maureen (of the excellent Garnet Hill cycle) was making her initial horrific discovery pretty close to the time that Kellen was experiencing yet another brush with murder in this final (?) novel of her series. It's been a comparison I've not been able to shake, not because they are alike --they are and they aren't. I kept forgetting Kellen Stewart was in Glasgow, so much of her time is spent at her farm on the outskirts.
There is probably much to be said about the similarities between Maureen and Kellen; I can see plenty of them without having to stretch too far. But it wasn't any similarity between the two, or even between the two Glasgows, that made the connection to me. Rather, it was that the last time I sat stunned at the feelings evoked from a book was way back when I first read Garnet Hill. In fact, it is the feeling, the verb, that stands out, now that I've finished the three Kellen Stewart novels.
All of this is to say that I've been absolutely percolating for the last three or four days, as I really started to read at a steady clip. Manda Scott's three Stewart novels (because this is really a review of the three, on the occasion of finishing the last) are each better than the last, but in quiet ways. Crime seems to happen around Kellen, which is an interesting and refreshing way to structure crime novels. As a result, Kellen finds herself in varying degrees of involvement in these crimes. By the time of Stronger Than Death, she's in some ways frustrated that she's not more at the center of things, crimewise, than she is, but it makes for a much better experience for the reader. That, for me, is where the emotional resonance really hit home.
I'm rambling. I really should have thought more about this before posting, but I've not been keeping up with my "reviews," and I wanted something for posterity with this one. Manda Scott is a different kind of crime writer, excellently different. Like Denise Mina and few others that I've read in Scottish crime fiction, she seems more interested in the interior lives of characters, particularly Kellen's, and particularly in Stronger Than Death. Chapter five is a revelation, or at least it was to me. I've read it multiple times, and it stands alone so well that I've made a note to try and use it in my teaching. For what, I don't know (yet). It is so beautiful and devastating in how it uses impending death to give us insight into both Kellen and her patient. That chapter, and this book, for me, embodies that comforting kind of sadness that comes from looking back on loss and grief. Excellent read.
I mention this because, near the end of Stronger Than Death, my mind rather randomly put it together that Kellen Stewart and Maureen O'Donnell were experiencing their own kinds of trauma around the same time. I looked it up, and sure enough, Maureen (of the excellent Garnet Hill cycle) was making her initial horrific discovery pretty close to the time that Kellen was experiencing yet another brush with murder in this final (?) novel of her series. It's been a comparison I've not been able to shake, not because they are alike --they are and they aren't. I kept forgetting Kellen Stewart was in Glasgow, so much of her time is spent at her farm on the outskirts.
There is probably much to be said about the similarities between Maureen and Kellen; I can see plenty of them without having to stretch too far. But it wasn't any similarity between the two, or even between the two Glasgows, that made the connection to me. Rather, it was that the last time I sat stunned at the feelings evoked from a book was way back when I first read Garnet Hill. In fact, it is the feeling, the verb, that stands out, now that I've finished the three Kellen Stewart novels.
All of this is to say that I've been absolutely percolating for the last three or four days, as I really started to read at a steady clip. Manda Scott's three Stewart novels (because this is really a review of the three, on the occasion of finishing the last) are each better than the last, but in quiet ways. Crime seems to happen around Kellen, which is an interesting and refreshing way to structure crime novels. As a result, Kellen finds herself in varying degrees of involvement in these crimes. By the time of Stronger Than Death, she's in some ways frustrated that she's not more at the center of things, crimewise, than she is, but it makes for a much better experience for the reader. That, for me, is where the emotional resonance really hit home.
I'm rambling. I really should have thought more about this before posting, but I've not been keeping up with my "reviews," and I wanted something for posterity with this one. Manda Scott is a different kind of crime writer, excellently different. Like Denise Mina and few others that I've read in Scottish crime fiction, she seems more interested in the interior lives of characters, particularly Kellen's, and particularly in Stronger Than Death. Chapter five is a revelation, or at least it was to me. I've read it multiple times, and it stands alone so well that I've made a note to try and use it in my teaching. For what, I don't know (yet). It is so beautiful and devastating in how it uses impending death to give us insight into both Kellen and her patient. That chapter, and this book, for me, embodies that comforting kind of sadness that comes from looking back on loss and grief. Excellent read.
August 20, 2013
Stronger than Death is the 3rd of the Kellen Stewart mysteries, following Hen's Teeth and Night Mares. Having fully enjoyed the first two books, this book is, without doubt, the best of the series. In fact, Stronger than Death should not be reduced to a well-plotted riveting mystery book with accurate science and with well-drawn three-dimensional characters. This is a thought-provoking book, not just about love (in all its forms) and death, as suggested by its title, but also about complex issues such as euthanasia and ethics, both personal and when dealing with clinical research. Through her beautiful and detailed prose, Manda Scott is not only able make the reader feel as if inside the setting surrounding her characters or within the complex relationships between them. More than that, she is able to show us the complex landscapes of the human mind. Very highly recommended.
February 6, 2019
Still keeps me reading all night
Read this many years ago but revisited after all her recent novels. Could not put this down and read til morning. My favourite writer for the last decade.
Read this many years ago but revisited after all her recent novels. Could not put this down and read til morning. My favourite writer for the last decade.
June 6, 2025
Took me around 150 pages to get "in" to the book and I only realised (maybe I'm stupid?) That the main character Kellen was actually female right at the end!! Spent the whole book thinking a it was a male character's first person POV.
dnf
February 8, 2017& the first DNF of 2017 goes to this book :|
I really really really wanted to like this 'cause I borrowed it from a friend **& the cover is nice** & even though the first chapter was hard to finish & the writing didn't click with me I decided to make it to at least half of it but after a long struggle I couldn't make it past page 99 .
The writing style is just plain terrible , the characters are so one-dimensional & unlikable in any way & it's so painfully slow .
Also it's supposed to have LGBTQ themes but I won't even bother to find out about them 'cause life is too short to waste on books I can't enjoy especially during finals .
I really really really wanted to like this 'cause I borrowed it from a friend **& the cover is nice** & even though the first chapter was hard to finish & the writing didn't click with me I decided to make it to at least half of it but after a long struggle I couldn't make it past page 99 .
The writing style is just plain terrible , the characters are so one-dimensional & unlikable in any way & it's so painfully slow .
Also it's supposed to have LGBTQ themes but I won't even bother to find out about them 'cause life is too short to waste on books I can't enjoy especially during finals .
March 20, 2020
Manda Scott takes the intensity up a notch in the third novel in the Kellen Stewart series. The story grabs you from the beginning and keeps a tight hold as the Kellen and Lee go through their own private hell following the death of a colleague. As usual Manda spins the tale around the working lives of Kellen and Lee to provide fascinating glimpses into the medical profession from a different perspective to that of any other author I read.
May 12, 2017
I have not read the first two books in this series, and it was took a while to understand who was who, and even what sex each person was, but when I came down to it, the story is good, the action is interesting, and nothing was predictable.
I will read more of Manda Scott's books when I get the chance.
I will read more of Manda Scott's books when I get the chance.
October 14, 2025
Een goed geschreven boek.
Read
December 7, 2010This is the 3rd Kellen Stewart mystery and it's the best yet. My favourite read of the month. Kellen is a doctor in Glasgow and her best friend Lee is a pathologist so there's a fair bit of gory medical stuff here. Lee's colleagues start dying one after the other and Lee must either be next in line ... or a murderer. I'm slightly worried for Kellen as in each book we seem to lose more of her friends and lovers, soon there will be no one left to get killed in the next book! That's always a problem with non professional sleuths though and apart from that I'm looking forward to seeing plenty more of Kellen.
May 8, 2016
As ever, Manda Scott's writing writing transports and delights and, right from the opening chapter, the story grabs me as Kellen and colleagues realise then try to predict and then prevent a series of killings at an exhausting and exhausted pace. The richness and veracity of background knowledge, of deaths of another sort and their aftermath, the climbing equipment and challenges, and all other background details are another ingredient in what makes her books such a pleasure to read and re-read.
September 21, 2014
This was my first Manda Scott novel and I am glad to have found another author whose books I will probably enjoy, if they are all as good as this one. This was well-plotted, original and well-paced. The characters were all strong and credible. A cut above the other mystery/crime/suspense/ thriller writers I have been reading. I will now get the first two novels in the series.
April 7, 2011
Should have started with book 1 to clarify the characters' relationships.
April 30, 2013
A tad confusing but still fun. Quick read
October 6, 2012
Een goed geschreven, spannende medische en literaire thriller.
Read
May 1, 2017Paperback
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews