Stuart McBride - Flesh House

REview by Malcolm F. Martland, September 2008
One of a series documenting the cases of DS Logan McCrae – an Aberdeen version of Edinburgh DS Rebus – and I felt nearly as well written – in parts – as Ian Rankins excellent novels. This is the first novel I have read of Stuart McBrides – he won the CWA Dagger in the Library for a body of crime fiction in 2007- I found it hilarious but exceptionally gory. A batch of Pork destined for the north sea rigs accidentally thaws out when a transit freezer breaks down and when – alerted by the smell – the container is opened the true horror is revealed – DS Logan is sent to investigate – because even he knows that pork doesn’t have nipple rings or tattoos of unicorns. The format of the book is interesting too – newspaper cuttings appear between sections describing local disappearances – raking up tales of the fabled Flesher who sold human meat from his butcher’s shop, murders his victims but gives their kids a fry up before he leaves the scene. There are false scents, murders, policemen in a pie - comedy and tragedy next to each other – and a very unpleasant account of human butchery – literally. Don’t read it if your squeamish – you’ll become an overnight vegetarian - it’s not a cosy book in anyway – but I enjoyed it – I’ll definitely read another of his.