THE MISSING AND THE DEAD

Even in exile, a veteran detective can't escape the lure of a major crime.

Fresh from catching a brutal murderer who placed his victims in burning tires (Close to the Bone, 2013), maverick DS Logan McRae is initially seen tackling a female accomplice to murder, rescuing a mortally wounded victim, and violently hauling in the presumed perp, serial killer Graham Stirling. Identifying Stirling's victim as cross-dresser Stephen Bisset puts Logan in an awkward spot with Bisset's angry son, David, who insists that his dad isn't a “pervert.” As usual, Logan bends the rules as freely as Dirty Harry, but this time it's not on his home turf of Aberdeen. He's been sent to rural Aberdeenshire on the North Sea and put in charge of the small local force. Not surprisingly, paperwork is not the restless Logan's strong suit. Luckily, he's able to harness his excess energy renovating the house he's been given to live in, a stone's throw from the police station. It's the perfect place for him to tend to his wheelchair-bound wife, Samantha. But big-city crime seems to find him. While searching for a reported pedophile, Logan gets the sad news that a little girl's body has been found at a local swimming pool. Logan's heavy hand with Stirling allows the perp to go free, and Stirling is not the kind to forget a grievance.

McRae's ninth appearance packs a potent punch, blending gritty police procedural with surprising grace notes of the hero's humanity.