The Special Dead by Lin Anderson

Val Penny ♦ October 30, 2015 ♦ Leave a comment

Lin Anderson is a gifted author whose writing continues to develop and grow with each novel she produces. She hails from Scotland and is a leading exponent of the “Tartan Noir” genre. Her most recent novel, The Special Dead, tells a gripping story firmly set in Glasgow, Scotland. It is already the tenth book featuring Anderon’s character, the forensic scientist, Rhona MacLeod.

I loved the setting of this book because, if you are familiar with Glasgow, you can imagine the physical progress of the characters around the city. The descriptions are vivid. The story is also quite distinctive in style. It begins when a young Scottish banker meets a beautiful red haired girl in bar, they go back to her flat where they have sex. Next morning, when he wakes up from his drunken stupor, he finds the girl dead. He was so drunk he cannot even be sure if he killed her or not.

An investigation follows that leads the recently demoted DS Michael McNab and Rhona MacLeod into the complicated mystery and the shady characters that emerge. They discover the woman is into WICCA (witchcraft). Before they work out if her death was suicide or murder, her friend, who is also involved in WICCA dies. Then the barman, who last saw the two women with the banker, is murdered and his eyes are scooped out. The investigators have to find out more about witchcraft.  They need to find out what the significance is of the Fergus Collection in Glasgow University, which both witches had access to, and of the doll’s in 3 rows of nine and the mysterious nine paying for magick sex. They have to work together to solve the case before somebody else becomes the next victim of a crazed killer.

I really enjoyed this book. It is exciting and intruiging. One of the best by Lin Anderson to date. If you enjoy a really good murder mystery, I highly recommend The Special Dead by Lin Anderson.

Valerie Penny