Review: Flesh House by Stuart MacBride

Stuart MacBride is the legendary Scottish crime writer behind the protagonist Detective Sergeant Logan McRae, and Flesh House is the fourth in the series.

I fell in love with Stuart MacBride after seeing him in an interview some time ago. He made me laugh and was instantly likeable, so I decided to read one of his many novels (14 at last count). I settled on Flesh House because the plot sounded interesting and it was one of the higher rating novels when I added it to my TBR list.  

So, how was it?

Flesh House was very dark and much more than I was expecting in terms of the nature of the grim murders and the subject of cannibalism. I do have the stomach for dark crime and sometimes horror, particularly if there's an interesting character flaw or a different perspective on humanity but this was a little too much for me.

When reading Flesh House, I was unexpectedly grossed out at times and repulsed by the killer's (known as the flesher) opinions and treatment of fellow human beings. But I guess that was the point.

There were some memorable characters and DI Steel was definitely one of them - a tough, chain-smoking, foul mouthed, ass kicking lesbian that didn't seem to do much work. Set in Aberdeen, there were flashes of humour and I enjoyed the newspaper montages scattered throughout the novel.

Perhaps I should have selected a different novel, but I'm interested to know how you decide which book to read when approaching a new author with a considerable backlist. How do you choose?

My rating = **

Carpe Librum!