‘That’s the first sensible thing you’ve said all day.’
‘After all, must be nearly time for tenses,’ he checked his watch, ‘we can …’ His eyes widened as he stared at the pale hairy stripe on his wrist. Then pulled up his other sleeve and stared at the wrist on that side. Then back to the first wrist. ‘That rancid little spungbadger’s nicked my watch!’ He charged off towards the tunnel under the St Nicholas Centre. ‘COME BACK HERE YOU THIEVING WEE JOBBIE!’
See? That was what you got for being nice to people.
Roberta shook her head. ‘Foolish and deluded.’ Then lumbered after him.
After all, he might be a useless wee spud, but he was her useless wee spud.
And some days, that was what counted.
BEFORE WE SAY GOODBYE
in which Stuart says thank you to some
People Who Helped
Thank you to: Fiona (partner in crime, maker of tea and naughty Fife person) – she knows what for; Grendel (fuzzy cat, companion, muse and advisor on all the gory bits) – so does she; Beetroot (teeny velvety cat) for trying to catch all the words on the screen as I typed them; Susan Calman (excellent stand-up, author, and all-round Radio-4-type funny person) for permission to quote the line ‘it’s not all sex-swings and dildos’; Chuck Imisson (bookseller extraordinaire and Death Watch frontman) for inspiring the CID team’s ‘Word of the Day’ thing; Charlie Morrison (mechanical guru) for coming to the rescue on more than one occasion; Allan Buchan (AKA: Allan Guthrie, excellent writer of proper tartan noir) for all his input and feedback on this book and the shenanigans contained within; Terence Caven (production Man of Steel) for putting up with all my Oldcastle map-flavoured madness; Sergeant Bruce ‘Brucie’ Crawford (award-winning police-tweeter) who continues to be a font of many knowledges; everyone at HarperCollins but especially Sarah Hodgson (longsuffering editing guru, who’s put up with my nonsense for years), Jane Johnson, Julia Wisdom, Jaime Frost, Anna Derkacz, Sarah Collett, Charlie Redmayne, Roger Cazalet, Kate Elton, Hannah Gamon, Sarah Shea, Damon Greeney, Finn Cotton, the eagle-eyed Rhian McKay, Marie Goldie and the DC Bishopbriggs Naughty Monkey Gang; Phil Patterson and the team at Marjacq Scripts; everyone who works in a bookshop or a library also deserves a massive wodge of thanks, so often they’re the ones who get people excited about books – they’re Monsters of Fabulousness!
Last, but by no means least, I want to take my hat off to you – the person reading this book. If it wasn’t for readers there wouldn’t be writers, libraries, bookshops, or publishers. And what a crappy dreich grey world it would be.
If you’re enjoyed Now We Are Dead, try the latest novel from Stuart MacBride!
You can click here to buy your copy
About the Author
Stuart MacBride is the No.1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Logan McRae and Ash Henderson novels. He’s also published standalones, novellas and short stories, as well as a children’s picture book. In 2017 he won Celebrity Mastermind (which surprised him more than anyone) – his specialist subject was the life and major works of A.A. Milne.
Stuart lives in the northeast of Scotland with his wife Fiona, cats Grendel, Gherkin, Onion, and Beetroot, some hens, horses, and a vast collection of assorted weeds.
For more information visit StuartMacBride.com
Facebook.com/stuartmacbridebooks
@stuartmacbride
By Stuart MacBride
The Logan McRae Novels
Cold Granite
Dying Light
Broken Skin
Flesh House
Blind Eye
Dark Blood
Shatter the Bones
Close to the Bone
22 Dead Little Bodies
The Missing and the Dead
In the Cold Dark Ground
Now We Are Dead
The Ash Henderson Novels
Birthdays for the Dead
A Song for the Dying
A Dark so Deadly
Other Works
Sawbones (a novella)
12 Days of Winter (short stories)
Partners in Crime (two Logan and Steel short stories)
The 45% Hangover (a Logan and Steel novella)
The Completely Wholesome Adventures of Skeleton Bob (a picture book)
Writing as Stuart B. MacBride
Halfhead
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
http://www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East – 20th Floor
Toronto, ON, M4W, 1A8, Canada
http://www.harpercollins.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London, SE1 9GF
http://www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
http://www.harpercollins.com
Now We Are Dead Page 32