The Coffinmaker’s Garden by Stuart MacBrideMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Time taken to read - 2 days
Pages - 496
Publisher - HarperCollins
Source - Netgalley
Blurb from Goodreads
A village on the edge…
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.
A house full of secrets…
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.
An investigator with nothing to lose…
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.
My Review
Firstly let me say I didn't realise this was book three in a series and I haven't read the first two. That said, I liked it so much I will be going back and getting/reading them. A storm is raging and the house of Gordon Smith is slowly crumbling.....right into the sea. When part of it goes in his neighbour clocks human remains and detectives go in and have a look, elderly Smith is nowhere to be seen. Ex copper Ash Henderson is helping the team and comes across horrors in Smith's basement however evidence is falling into the sea and they already risked their lives by going in. An investigation kicks off with an unlikely alliance and lots of hinderance along the way. Where is Smith, how did he get away with it for as long as they did, how can they prove it with only old pictures, frictions in the team and another killer on the loose.
Oooh so obviously as I said I hadn't read the previous two books so Ash to me was new and brilliant, damaged - seriously the guy has a gun shot to the foot and hobbling. Grief stricken and had some temper and fists on him. He is very protective of his colleague who has her own demons to battle and trying to keep her heed out the bottle. So much has obviously transpired with these characters and I do love a bit of a rogue good guy.
There are two investigate themes in the book, one is a child killer and the police are actively investigating that. The main theme is the finding of this Smith and any evidence before it crumbles into the sea. A killer who has operated for years, victims men and women, undetected and now being hunted. We also have a wild card crackpot criminal who is desperate to find her grand daughter but she isn't opposed to battering someone, has a criminal history and not a fan of the police.
It has plenty of action, characters to love and hate, lots happening, bad words so don't pick it up if you get offended with swearing. There is also violence mentions of torture and harm to animals so just an FYI. I do enjoy Scottish characters/fiction and as I say I will be getting and reading books one and two. Not sure if he is coming back to this series but I do hope so, they are a good cast and I would like to hear more about them, 4/5 for me this time.
What a great title, it certainly captures the attention. However, swearing (I'm presuming gratuitous) and harm to animals ... Hmm! Probably not a book I'll be reading. Good that you enjoyed it enough to want to read the first two books in the series though.
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