Fun couple of short stories I'd been meaning to read about a pair of characters I have really grown to enjoy. One centered on DI Steel, whom I remember fondly hating when I first started reading. This time around, I enjoyed it just fine. ( )

This is a novella using the characters of Steel and Logan McRae from Stuart MacBride's long-running series of stories set in Aberdeen following the hapless McRa's adventures as a detective involved in various murders and his rather over-the-top superior, Steel.
I found the first story a bit weaker as it only involved Steel with another character, but the second story was more up to form with the interplay between Logan and Steele entertaining.
They investigate a criminal who just turns up under suspicious circumstances when Steele and her partner are off on a holiday. They try to keep things from Susan and as usual, battle the ghastly Scottish weather. ( )

As advertised, here are two short stories from one of my favorite writers, Stuart MacBride. The first, "DI Steel's Bad Heir Day," features the inimitable Detective Inspector Steel and the poor put-upon Detective Constable Allan Guthrie. Not only does Steel force Guthrie to wear a Santa bobble hat complete with flashing lights, she's got him on the trail of her Christmas shopping. And then of course there's the matter of a missing man and an inheritance. This story is interesting in so much as we get to see someone else having to deal with Steel-- and it's certainly not easy.

The second story, "Stramash," has Steel on holiday with her partner. Unfortunately Steel has uncovered a crime, and instead of dealing with it herself-- her partner's insisted on this holiday and no work-- she calls the long-suffering Logan McRae to go all the way there to deal with it. Again-- it's not easy. A thought did cross McRae's mind in the midst of his misery: "A quick shove and she probably wouldn't wash ashore till she reached Ireland...."-- and I was mentally willing him to do the deed.

MacBride has done an absolutely brilliant job of creating DI Steel-- a character whom I loathe. I dislike the woman so much because she reminds me of a former boss who perfected shoving all his work off on his already overloaded employees. It's gotten to the point where I have an extremely difficult time dealing with an entire novel; there's just too much of Steel in one. However, these short stories are just the right length for me to get back in touch with my beloved Logan McRae and Aberdeen, Scotland.

MacBride writes with a wicked, twisted sense of humor that I enjoy. He can also create some fantastic plots for his mysteries, and his characters are so vivid that they leap off the page. His short stories show all this, so they're a good way to sample his writing before you bite into an entire novel. But if you find yourself wanting to give Steel "a quick shove," come sit next to me. We'll compare notes! ( )

Mmm ... I really worry that MacBride has lost his way. I thought that the early novels featuring the hapless Detective Sergeant Logan MacRae and the marvellous foul-mouthed lesbian DI Roberta Steel were excellent, offering a gleeful combination of gritty crime and hilarious. Sadly the stories in this collection are a disappointment. The plots are weak (beyond even the most generous bounds of plausibility) and the characters were very subdued.
But apart from that ... ( )