Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride

The worst kind of murderer is loose in Aberdeen.  Several small children have been snatched off the streets and found murdered.  There is no case the police want to solve more, and no case that brings more publicity.

DS Logan McRae has just come back to work from an extended time off due to an injury on the job when a killer he caught managed to stab him repeatedly during the arrest.  He is assigned to a new station where he meets the people who will be his workmates.  There is an interesting woman uniformed policeman assigned to help him; an irascible boss who is demanding yet respected and another boss who is female and seems to have her job down to the point where she rarely has to leave her office. 

As the murders start to pile up, all evidence points to the local mental patient who is feared.  Formerly a brilliant student, the man lost his promising future to mental illness and is now employed as the man who removes dead animals from the roadways.  His illness makes him treasure these dead things and he sees his role in life as transformation of living things.  Did his illness make him take and kill small children?

This is the debut novel in Stuart MacBride's sterling series about DS McRae.  Mystery readers who like police procedurals will love this one as it gives the inside story of how a crime is solved.  But anyone who picks this up will love it as MacBride has the gift of telling a story in such an intriguing way with so much humor that it is an enjoyable read even with such a gruesome topic.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.