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There's enough crime in Stuart MacBride's Dying Light (HarperCollins, pounds 10) for several books; rape, murder, arson, drug-dealing, torture - they're all there and Detective Sergeant Logan MacRae, first encountered in MacBride's dbut, Cold Granite, is in the midst of it. Once the blue-eyed boy of Grampian police, Logan has fallen out of favour and is sent to join the other rejects in the Screw-Up Squad headed by the unconventional, permanently grouchy Inspector Steel. There are long hours on duty, interspersed with bouts of heavy drinking, as Steel ruthlessly drives her squad to catch the man who is beating prostitutes to death. The story is violent and bloody; some of the crimes are vicious and MacBride doesn't hold back on the details. But there is plenty of dark humour, and a warmth in the portrayal of the police officers which lightens an otherwise grim tale by this very talented writer.