Bloodshot by Stuart MacBride

Things don't get easier for Aberdeen's Detective Sergeant Logan McRae.  He's working three cases, any of which could drive a sane man mad.  There's the porn star, dropped off at death's door at the hospital where he promptly died.  There's the open and shut case of a pensioner stabbed to death in a robbery by an eight year who leads a shoplifting/robbery gang.  Then there's the case of Robbie Macintyre.

Robbie is the star of the local football club and a media darling.  The tv and papers idolize him for his prowess on the field and his showy lifestyle with his mansion, high end cars and flashy women.  There's only one problem; Aberdeen police are convinced he's the rapist that is targeting women alone at night, each incident getting more vicious.  McRae's girlfriend, Jackie Watson, takes Macintyre down disguised as a potential victim.  But Hissing Sid, Aberdeen's pre-eminant lawyer, gets Macintyre released and expects an apology for the outrage of charging him.

Making matters even worse are McRae's boss.  Detective Inspector Roberta Steel is the talk of the station for her wild ways and inclination to have her subordinates do her job.  With the Macintyre debacle, DI Insch is in disgrace and put under Steel temporarily, not a mood inclined to improve his mood.  McRae is loaned out to Insch, but it's not like Steel is letting him go.  Now he has two demanding DI's to work for.

This is the third novel in the popular Logan McRae series.  The action is fast and furious, coupled with a dark sense of humor typical of Scottish writing.  Logan is a good guy, forever put down by circumstances but finding a way to get his job done regardless of circumstance.  The various plot lines resolve successfully and satisfactorily as the reader ends another tale of Aberdeen policing, eager for the next.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.