All That's Dead is the twelfth novel in the bestselling Logan 'Lazarus' McRae series written by

Stuart MacBride Stuart MacBride is a Scottish writer, whose crime fiction, crime thrillers are set in the "Granite City" of Aberdeen, with Detective Sergeant List of Logan McRae characters, Logan McRae as protagonist. Biography Stuart MacBride was born 27 Febr ...

Plot

An Englishman, who lectures at

Aberdeen University The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen and Chancellor of Scotland, petitioned Pope Al ...

, goes missing, with only spattered blood stains to indicate what might have happened. He was vociferous in his Unionism (especially on social media) and it is thought by

Police Scotland Police Scotland (), officially the Police Service of Scotland (), is the national police force of Scotland. It was formed in 2013, through the merging of eight regional police forces in Scotland, as well as the specialist services of the Scottis ...

that the Alt-Nats (Alternative Nationalists) have kidnapped him. Then at least two others go missing too. Amidst all this, Detective Inspector Logan McRae is back at work after having had a year off on sick leave (on account of his wounds from the last story The Blood Road). McRae, who is still in Professional Standards, is seconded to the investigation into the disappearances when it is revealed that the detective inspector leading the investigation, was in a

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

terror group when he was sixteen.

Reception

MacBride acknowledged that the novel had an obvious theme; that of Scotland's Independence and the fight between the Nationalists and the Unionists. MacBride stated his thoughts on the matter, saying Barry Forshaw, writing in the ''"

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

"'', commented on the Scottish Independence theme on the book and stated "...while the delivery of such elements in All That’s Dead may seem less compulsively nasty than previous outings for his rough-edged Aberdeen copper Logan McRae, readers should not be lured into a false sense of security." Louise Fairbairn, writing in ''"

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

"'', said "After last year’s superlative The Blood Road, I wondered what Stuart MacBride was going to do next. I needn’t have worried – All That’s Dead is a much slower burn, and a very different kind of case for Logan McRae, but it’s a satisfying read, and a hugely thoughtful novel to boot." David Knights, writing in the ''

Keighley News The ''Keighley News'' is a weekly newspaper based in Keighley, West Yorkshire, England. As well as Keighley, its circulation area includes Cross Hills, Cullingworth, Denholme, East Morton, Haworth, Oxenhope, Silsden and Steeton. The newsp ...

'' was very positive about the novel saying that the novel "is up there with the best of Logan’s previous outings." On its first week of release, ''All That's Dead'' debuted at number 2 on the hardback book chart.

References

{{Stuart MacBride 2019 British novels Novels set in Aberdeenshire Novels by Stuart MacBride HarperCollins books