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. As a massive storm batters the Scottish coast, Gordon Smith's home is falling into the North Sea. But the crumbling headland has revealed what he's got buried in his garden: human remains. With the storm still raging, it's too dangerous to retrieve the bodies and waves are devouring the evidence. Which means no one knows how many people Smith's already killed and how many more he'll kill if he can't be found and stopped.

The Coffin Maker has a secret garden that’s been exposed as the North Sea erodes the cliffs around his condemned house. Human bones reveal a serial killer even as they fall into the water destroying evidence. Where did Gordon Smith disappear to and how will his victims be identified? MacBride is speaking from his home in the wilds of north-east Scotland, where he lives with his wife and a multitude of cats (Grendel, his Maine Coon, was bought with the proceeds of his very first advance, some 16 years ago). His new novel, The Coffinmaker’s Garden, opens in barnstorming fashion as serial killer Gordon Smith’s home crumbles into the sea, revealing the human remains he hid in his garden. Ex-Detective Inspector Ash Henderson, who MacBride has put through the mill in his previous appearances (in Birthdays for the Dead, Ash’s daughter is the victim of a serial killer abducting and torturing girls), is put on the case. The Coffin Maker's Garden by Stuart MacBride sees the welcome return of Ash Henderson and his motley crew 7 long years since their previous outing in A Song For The Dying.Former detective Ash remains traumatised by the death of his daughter, and is working in a civilian role for Police Scotland in a special unit, alongside his friend and housemate Dr Alice McDonald, a clinical psychologist, whose at times childish loquaciousness belies her brilliance. Their team is in pursuit of one serial killer, who is taking and abusing children, when a house on a windswept coast is washed into the North Sea, revealing an underground killing chamber in the basement. As a massive storm batters the Scottish coast, Gordon Smith’s home is falling into the North Sea. But the crumbling headland has revealed what he’s got buried in his garden: human remains. The Coffinmaker’s Garden is the third in the Ash Henderson series but also features the ‘Misfit Mob’, the team of delinquent detectives who featured in the standalone A Dark So Deadly. It is set in the fictional Oldcastle.

When a storm hits the Scottish coast, Gordon Smith’s home is begins to fall into the North Sea revealing human remains in his garden. The storm is making difficult if not impossible to get to the bodies for further investigations and threatens to wash away the evidence. The police are unable to ascertain just how many people has already killed and how many more he’ll kill if he can’t be found and stopped. Ex-policeman Ash Henderson and forensic psychologist Dr. Alice McDonald are determined to see this one through. I know I'm the odd one out here, but I really didn't enjoy this book. Too violent. Too dark. Too much rule breaking. Too much torture. Too much sexism. Too much racism. Too incredulous. Bob Mortimer wins 2023 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction with The Satsuma Complex With the storm still raging, it’s too dangerous to retrieve the bodies and waves are devouring the evidence. Which means no one knows how many people Smith’s already killed and how many more he’ll kill if he can’t be found and stopped.

CATEGORIES

I know MacBride has a legion of fans and I would have liked to join them but, although the plot was good, particularly at the beginning, the execution of it let it down. You’d think that things wouldn’t have changed all that much for writers. Yes, we can’t get out to do events at festivals and libraries and bookshops anymore, but we’re mostly homebodies anyway, so what is there to whinge about? This is just business-as-usual. Only it really hasn’t been. For years I’ve been saying that crime writers reflect the fears of society. That’s why 1970s crime fiction is so different to 2000s, or 2010. It holds up a mirror to our collective psyche and asks, ‘What are you afraid of?’ 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.

The plot kept me interested throughout with the two main strands and several side issues to occupy my mind. I felt as if my mind was constantly whirring with possible scenarios of how it would play out and being wrong at every turn as it took a different direction. There is the mystery of the unknown child killer and there is the hunt for the murderous pensioner Gordon Smith, who still has all his marbles and hasn’t given up his urges. It’s great stuff. The specialised team are established characters from previous books, but this was my first encounter with them. I felt very comfortable with them as they felt natural, with no stiffness about their characters like, at times, when they are new. Alongside, the case of the serial killer is also the disappearance of a neighbour’s daughter.Stuart MacBride is the No.1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Logan McRae and Ash Henderson novels. He’s also published standalones, novellas and short stories as well as a children’s picture book. It would be great if the author were to alternate these novels with the Logan McRae ones on an annual basis, thus keeping both series fresh for the reader. The media are baying for blood, the top brass are after a scapegoat, and ex-Detective Inspector Ash Henderson is done playing nice. He’s got a killer to catch, and God help anyone who gets in his way. As a massive storm batters the Scottish coast, Gordon Smith’s home is falling into the sea. The trouble is: that’s where he’s been hiding the bodies. Throw into the mix a ruthless tabloid journalist and a neighbour of Gordon Smith who also has a colourful criminal history, and you have an eventful road trip for Ash and Franklin. As events escalate, Ash strikes out on his own, and then with his best friend DI Morrow, aka Shifty, to mete out his own particular brand of justice.