The Dead Of Winter by Stuart MacBride

 

DI Victoria Elizabeth Montgomery-Porter and DC Edward Reekie are responsible for transporting a terminally ill criminal from prison to Glenfarach, a village which acts as an open prison for those criminals who have served their sentence but are unsuitable to rejoin normal society. Glenfarach is a completely self-contained village in the middle of nowhere. When one of the residents is brutally murdered Reekie and his boss have to investigate as the approaching storm has cut the village off from the rest of civilisation.

I loved this. The opening chapter grabs you and just doesn't let go until the end. The first chapter is gritty and violent, setting the scene and immediately making you wonder what is happening. The end of the first chapter really does pull you up short, leaving you open mouthed and questioning what has happened. 

The description of Glenfarach that I thought really summed the place up well was Stepford Wives crossed with Village of the Damned. Everything looks great on the surface but there is an undertone of menace. The village is populated by organised criminals, sex offenders and pedophiles. All criminals who have completed their sentences but cannot be returned to society as their lives would be at risk. On the surface everything works well; there is a constant police presence, on site social workers, a curfew and everyone is tagged. When the murder takes place everything is thrown into question.

The relationship between Reekie and his boss "Bigtoria" is at the heart of this story. Thrown together at the last moment they are an unlikely pair. Reekie is young, naive and deferential, whereas his boss is aggressive, demanding and bullish. They rub each other up the wrong way and come across as the classic "good cop, bad cop". The vast majority of the dark humour of the novel comes from the interactions of the pair. 

The complication of a blizzard cutting off the village adds another layer to the story. This isn't one of those storms that simply makes the roads impassible and stops communication. It's a constant, in your face blizzard that makes driving impractical; even walking is impossible as the snow drifts are thigh high. The unrelenting snow also means that tracks are hidden.

With a village populated by criminals the main question is who, everyone of them is a suspect. Since they're all tagged the next question is how? As the storm rages more and more questions are raised. Each turn of the page constantly leaving you wondering how it's all connected to the opening chapter.

The Dead Of Winter by Stuart MacBride will be published on 16th February 2023 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Transworld Books for a review copy.