EXCERPT: 'I've been waiting for you for fifteen minutes!' Dr Isobel MacAlister, Aberdeen's chief pathologist, wearing an expression that would freeze the balls off a brass gorilla at twenty paces. 'You might not have anything better to do, but I can assure you that I have. Now are you going to listen to my preliminary findings, or shall I just go home and leave you to whatever it is you feel is more important?'

Logan groaned. That was all they needed, Isobel winding Insch up even further. As if the grumpy fat sod wasn't bad enough already. The inspector turned on her, his face flashing angry scarlet in the IB spotlights. 'Thank you so much for waiting for me, Doctor. I'm sorry if my organising a murder enquiry has inconvenienced you. I'll try not to let something so trivial get in the way again.'

They stared at each other in silence for a moment. Then Isobel pulled on a cold, unfriendly smile. 'Remains are human: male. Dismemberment looks as if it occurred some time after death with a long, sharp blade and a hacksaw, but I won't be able to confirm that until after I've performed the post mortem.' She checked her watch. 'Which will take place at eleven am precisely.'

Insch bristled. 'Oh no it won't! I need those remains analysed now -'

'They're frozen, Inspector. They - need - to - defrost.' Emphasising each word as if she was talking to a naughty child, rather than a huge, bad tempered detective inspector. 'If you want, I suppose I could stick them in the canteen microwave for half an hour. But that might not be very professional. What do you think?'

Insch just ground his teeth at her. Face rapidly shifting from angry-red to furious-purple.

ABOUT 'FLESH HOUSE' (Logan McRae #4): Panic grips The Granite City as DS Logan McRae heads up a manhunt for 'The Flesher' - one of the UK's most notorious serial killers. The case was closed. Until the killer walked free When an offshore container turns up at Aberdeen Harbour full of human meat, it kicks off the largest manhunt in the Granite City's history. Twenty years ago 'The Flesher' was butchering people all over the UK - turning victims into oven-ready joints - until Grampian's finest put him away. But eleven years later he was out on appeal. Now he's missing and people are dying again.When members of the original investigation start to disappear, Detective Sergeant Logan McRae realizes the case might not be as clear cut as everyone thinks Twenty years of secrets and lies are being dragged into the light. And the only thing that's certain is Aberdeen will never be the same again

MY THOUGHTS: I took every possible opportunity to listen to Flesh House, but I have to admit to not eating much meat while I was doing so! If you don't have a strong stomach and a love of gore, I strongly suggest that you bypass this. But me? I loved every minute of it.

I don't know why, but everyone seems to pick on Logan; he's everyone's whipping boy. He is treated abominably by all his superiors and his ex-girlfriend. And yet he has good ideas, sees possibilities that no one else recognizes.

Flesh House is grim, but has flashes of (dark) humor in unexpected places. It is needed. Be prepared for the eating of human flesh, torture, imprisonment and graphic descriptions of the killing of people.

I had the identity of the killer worked out a little ahead of the police, which pleased (and surprised) me no end. The ending was completely unexpected, and I laughed, which was probably highly inappropriate, but I did.

Definitely the pinnacle of this series thus far. ?????

THE AUTHOR: Stuart MacBride is a Scottish writer, most famous for his crime thrillers set in the "Granite City" of Aberdeen and featuring Detective Sergeant Logan McRae.

DISCLOSURE: I listened to the audiobook of Flesh House written by Stuart MacBride, brilliantly narrated by Steve Worsley and published by Harper Collins Audio, via Overdrive. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...2021 5-star audio ...more68 s Phrynne3,488 2,370

Stuart MacBride teeters on the edge of being totally gross with this one! I have seen several where the writers advise not to eat whilst reading this book. I totally agree!
Nevertheless it is an excellent book, so grim and dark and yet frequently laugh out loud funny. The police procedural aspects are very well done and I really enjoyed working out the killer's identity at the same time as the police did using the same clues. There was still a degree of surprise at the end but it was not totally out of left field as sometimes happens.
Best of all was the character development. Over four books all the main characters have grown on me in particular of course Logan McCrae. It is so nice to see him getting a bit tougher and standing up for himself (to a degree anyway).
I am now really looking forward to #5:)56 s Carolyn2,367 663

Well, that was a particularly gruesome read and definitely not for the faint hearted!! Be warned this may put you off eating meat for a while.

Twenty years ago, 'The Flesher' was the nickname given to an Aberdeen serial killer who butchered and ate his victims. A suspect was charged and convicted, but later released on appeal, despite the police believing they had caught the right man. Now the Flesher is back! People have been disappearing and victims are being hacked into choice cuts after death. Yes, this is dark and macabre but somehow didn't totally gross me out. Maybe because the writing is so good, the plot so well thought out and the characters all so well drawn or maybe it's because there is a good dose of humour and laugh out loud moments throughout to defuse the ickyness of the subject matter.

DS Logan McRae is assigned to the case with first DI Insch as his boss and then DI Steel. Overweight and grumpy Insch is just as given to fits of anger as ever. His fights with DI Steel are legendary and his team take bets on when he's going to hit someone, provided he doesn't blow a fuse first. DI Steel provides lighter moments with comments on her malfunctioning underwear, her relationship with her clucky girlfriend and her ability to relegate all work down the line. As before, Logan is the one who makes connections and looks outside the box, as any good detective should, and provides many of the breakthroughs in the case. Adding lightness and humour to the plot is Alec, a BBC reporter attempting to follow the police around with his camera for a documentary on real policing. There are some sad moments too when McBride is not afraid to sacrifice one of his characters for the sake of a good plot. This is proving to be an excellent, if somewhat gritty, series and I can't wait to read the next book.2020 murder-mystery thriller46 s Rachel the Book Harlot175 49

"DI Steel yawned, stretched, then said, 'What's green and smells of pork?'

Logan didn't look up from the copy of yesterday's Evening Express he'd found on the back seat. 'No idea'.

She grinned at him. 'Kermit's willy!' Pause for laughter. Nothing. 'Miserable sods.'"

Logan and crew are back in Flesh House, the fourth installment of the Logan McRae series. This one was a lot darker and gorier than previous books (seriously, don’t eat while reading this), but it also contained a nice dose of humor, suspense, and moments that actually made me teary-eyed. The crime solving was also great, with the case keeping me guessing right until the end.

This installment was a little different than previous books in that Logan was entirely focused on solving solely one case. Another difference is that for the first time in this series Logan didn’t miss some obvious clues, which he sometimes tends to do.

Stuart MacBride really knocks it out of the park with Flesh House. It is now my official favorite of the series so far. Can't recommend it enough.

Final rating: 5 starshorror-thriller-mystery35 s Effie Saxioni638 112

??????? ??? ????????? ??? ????? ??? ???????? ?? ???, ??????? ?????? ?? ???? ????? ???? ??? ???? ???? ?????. ??? ?????????? ??? ?? ?????? ????? ??????? ??? ???????? ??? ?? ??????-????? ?????????? ????? ????? ??? ??? ???? ??? ???????? ??????????.
5/5?31 s Kayla Jefferson72 5

Wow what a read. I found this very fast paces. Poor DS McRae seems be cant catch a break with Aberdeen seeming to more than your normal count of big crimes. This book is heartbreaking at times. DCI Steel is still able, DCI Insch still explosive and growing more unable each book however i ended up feeling sorry for him during certain events and will be surprised if he makes it the full way through the next book or if hes even in it. I guessed the killer in the last 50 or so pages. The ending was abit what the fuckish!!33 s1 comment Jean789 20


If you your police procedurals dark and gory, you most ly will love Stuart McBride’s Flesh House . The fourth installment of McBride’s Logan McRae series is about as grisly as they come. Twenty years prior, Aberdeen, Scotland was plagued by a serial killer known as “the Flesher,” whose victims were found brutally slain. Some were never found at all. Ken Wiseman was arrested and convicted. Now, however, Wiseman is free, and the slayings have begun anew.

Detective Sergeant McRae becomes involved after human body parts are found in a container, and before long, “mystery meat” in the butcher shops and stores has a whole new meaning. The killer appears to be picking up speed, as the number of missing persons seems to be growing. From time to time, we get an up-close-and-personal look at one victim, who, for some reason, is only being held captive rather than being butchered.

Despite the stomach-lurching descriptions, there is some humor. As in previous books in the series, much of it is raunchy and crude, but I managed a chuckle or two nonetheless. The relationships are interesting and well developed. And the mystery itself is riveting. However, the violence and decadence are too over-the-top for my taste. The modus operandi is consistent, I suppose, with the killer’s mindset and psyche, but it was far too extreme for me. I have to add that the ending was quite unexpected indeed.

There are a few questions up in the air for Logan and also for Jackie. At this juncture, I have not decided whether or not to continue with the series, but I might be curious to know how these two end up.

3 stars
21 s Fiona1,341 267

There's still a lot to in this book - particularly if you've got a strong stomach, because you're going to need it - but Flesh House veered too far away from the plausible for me. That ending was a definite step too far, for a series that so far has been dramatic, certainly, but well within the realms of possibility

When I say you'll need a strong stomach, I'm going to put some things behind a spoiler tag, because it's not mentioned in the synopsis: a man thrown from a roof "bursts a meat pinata", which is one hell of a turn of phrase, but more importantly there's some very uncomfortable cannibalism throughout, as well as the death of a very young child of one of our series' main characters.

But if that's not enough to put you off, there's definitely still solid writing here; the writing is nothing fancy, but it's good and pulls you through the books in no time. There's humour, here and there, though it's got a hell of a lot of dark to lighten, and I'm not sure Stuart MacBride hit the balance he normally does. There's some major developments in here for the series as a whole, too, so if you're continuing the series I wouldn't skip this one.crime-and-punishment serial-killers19 s Siobhan4,674 583

The fourth Logan McRae novel, and Stuart MacBride is slowly working himself higher up my list of favourite authors.

Since picking up the first Logan McRae novel, Cold Granite, I knew I was onto something good with Stuart MacBride. I love crime thrillers, adore police procedurals, and he was offering me all that I wanted and then some. He offers great mystery. He keeps you guessing throughout. There are plot twists. There are great characters. The humour is dark. The story is grizzly. He has it all, and to make it all better I actually know the locations in the stories. The final point, knowing the locations, doesn’t really influence my love of the stories (I would love them even if I was oblivious to Aberdeen) but it does make it that little bit easier to enjoy.

With Flesh House, Stuart MacBride gave us another great story. Book three, Broken Skin, was my favourite of the first three books. It had every single tiny thing that I could ask for. It really did, in my opinion, have it all. I fangirled so hard, to the point where it was no longer funny. Coming after such a thing, I was worried Flesh House would not be as good. At the same time, however, the synopsis had me believing it would be even better. It was a tough place to be, but I was excited any way.

Compared to many crime books I have read, this one sits quite high up there. Compared to the first three Logan McRae books, it is not the best. It is at Stuart MacBride’s usual high standard, but it sits in the four star category rather than the five star category. A wonderful read, but not my favourite in the series. Wonderful, as I had hoped, but it was coming after a stronger read.

With Flesh House, I feel as though the story was a bit slower. This isn’t to say the story was slow throughout, but it seemed to take longer before the action really started. A lot more time was spent focusing upon the past aspects of the case, of what happened twenty years ago, and rehashing details pertaining to that aspect of the story rather than moving things forwards.

Of course, they did move forward in the end. When things started moving it was great – there were so many aspects to the story, and it was all a lot of fun – but I felt as though I waited longer than usual for the action to truly start. As so much happened, towards the end, I felt as though the story had made up for the slow start, but it still wasn’t quite there. I would have d all the wonderful aspects of the story, and a little more speed at the start.

Don’t get me wrong, it was a brilliant story. I did have a lot of fun with it, as I do with all of the Logan McRae novels. I’ve already listed all of the things Stuart MacBride has to offer, and all is apparent in this novel. Hell, the humour continues to increase with every novel and I was once again getting into trouble for laughing at the most inopportune of times. I simply had my hopes set a little bit higher after reading Broken Skin.

Overall, a wonderful read. It is a brilliant addition to the series. Unfortunately, despite hoping otherwise, it wasn’t a new favourite.17 s Susan2,791 586

This is the fourth Logan McRae thriller and is definitely not for the faint hearted.

Twenty years ago, a serial killer, named ‘The Flesher,’ was arrested. Now, he’s on the loose and McRae, and his colleagues, are determined to track him down. D.I. Inch was involved in that original case and, having been told he needs to go on a diet, he is most definitely not in a good mood. Adding to his annoyance is the fact that a BBC film crew are following the case, while making a documentary.

This is a violent novel, which often makes for uncomfortable reading. We have the eating of human flesh, people imprisoned, gory killings, torture scenes and lots of death. MacBride does not flinch was killing familiar characters, or tackling really difficult subjects. However, this series of also full of dark humour and characters that you really care about.

I will certainly be continuing this series, even though I did find myself flinching at times! As always, Steve Worsley read this wonderfully – I love his audio versions of these books, as he really makes the characters come alive.

12 s Natalie M1,192 48

Hold on to your stomach and avoid eating while reading as this one takes some truly gory turns.

Protagonist DS Logan McRae returns in the 4th instalment of the series. Macbride’s dry, witty humour is as strong as ever however there is only one major crime in this novel. McRae’s dogged determination and indomitable perseverance permeates the entire plot, which I found fast-paced and all engrossing.

Nothing an excellent Scottish detective series (even though slightly different to the first three) to keep the mind guessing to the very end!13 s Ellen991 156

Flesh House by Stuart MacBride.

Alert: This book is not for the faint of heart.

DS Logan McRae is on the trail of a serial killer known as The Flesher. He's not the only Detective that's been on this manhunt. It's been going on for over 20 years. Then the complications begin and they begin with Detective Inspector Insch. Apparently it's come to Logan's attention protocol has not been followed and that's putting it mildly. Has the wrong man been in prison for all these years because of a major foul up?

This book is beyond a mystery and more of a thriller, in my opinion. It was over the top(my opinion) but the characters/the story were and continue to be worth the read. macbride mystery-inspector-logan-mcrae11 s Marty Fried1,071 106

This was one of the strangest books I've read in a while. I'm not sure what to make of it. First of all, I'm beginning to suspect that the Keystone Cops have come back in the form of this series. There's a lot of zaniness throughout, and lots of laughs. Kind of strange considering the crimes are so gruesome - people being butchered and cut up into meat packages that make their way into stores. Lots of laughs - seriously.

Then there was the ending. That got complicated and strange, and I can't help thinking I missed something. I'm not 100% sure who did what, or who was real, or even what happened to some of the people. Part of the problem was that there were so many characters spread out over many years, and it was hard to keep up with them. But it was confusing even knowing the characters. But lots of fun to read, nevertheless.audiobooks brutal humor9 s Barry383 67

I read about 20% of Flesh House and chose not to invest any more time in a book that I found uninteresting. The portion that I read focussed on McRae's corpulent, obnoxious, abusive boss, DI Insch. There were so many references to Insch's size as well as the size and appearance of his head that, frankly (or Georgely, if you prefer), that the story, if indeed there was one buried in all that crap, faded into nothingness.

The only break in Insch's abusiveness was when McRae was similarly abused by his ex-girlfriend, the current pathologist. This treatment simply added to my frustration.

It was also enormously frustrating to see McRae's unwillingness to stand up to Insch or his ex. He could and should have done so effectively and politely. His acquiescence made him seem very weak-willed and cowardly.

I loved the first Logan McRae novel but the quality of the books has steadily eroded, to me, since then. Thus, this is the last of MacBride's novels that I will read, at least for the next year or two.

The End just-couldn-t-finish8 s Gabriel?|Kartu su knyga601 279

Ši knyga yra jau ketvirtoji serijos dalis, kurioje pagrindinis personažas - Loganas Makr?jus.
Kitos trys dalys :
1. Šaltas granitas
2. G?stanti šviesa
3. Atvira žaizda

Aberdyno uoste aptinkamas j?rinis konteineris, kuris yra pilnas.. žmogienos.
Vos prieš dvidešimt met? "M?sin?tojas" be gailes?io skerd? visus, kas pasitaikydavo jo kelyje. Tuomet serijinis žudikas buvo sulaikytas Grampiano policijos bei praleido ilgus metus kal?jime.. Ta?iau po apeliacinio teismo jis paleidžiamas ? laisv?.. "M?sin?tojas" dingsta lyg ? vanden? ir v?l pasipila žmoni? lavonai.
Prad?jus dingti be žinios ankstesniojo tyrimo pareig?nams, Loganas pradeda suvokti, jog nusikaltim? motyvas slypi kažkur giliau..

Kai prad?jau skaityti ši? serij?, pamenu, jog "Šaltas granitas" man?s smarkiai nesužav?jo, ta?iau pajutau, jog istorija tikrai turinti cinkel?. Suteikiau jai antr? šansa ir likau maloniai nustebinta. Papirko mane autoriaus humoro jausmas, o ir širdžiai miel? veik?j? taip pat aptikau. Taip po truput? susidraugavau su Loganu Makr?jumi bei jo kolegomis bei kartu leidom?s ? žudiko paieškas.
Ši istorija tikrai buvo kitokia ir truput? šiurpoka. Vietomis skaityti tikrai buvo nejauku..
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