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The Innocent Dead (Rhona MacLeod Book 15) Kindle Edition

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 647 ratings

Forty-five years ago, a young girl went missing. Now, a body is found. The Innocent Dead is the fifteenth book in Lin Anderson's Glasgow-set forensic crime series featuring Rhona MacLeod.

'One of the most satisfying characters in modern crime fiction' –
Daily Mail

Mary McIntyre's disappearance tore the local community apart, inflicting wounds that still prove raw for those who knew her. So when the present-day discovery of a child’s remains are found in a peat bog south of Glasgow, it seems the decades-old mystery may finally be solved.

Called in to excavate the body, forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod uses the advances made in forensic science since Mary’s vanishing to determine what really happened all those years ago – and who was responsible.

Karen Marshall had been devastated by her best friend’s abduction. The police questioned her at the time, but it was a dead end – and the case soon went cold.

Now, news of the discovered body brings the nightmares back. Memories long-buried by Karen are returning – memories that begin to uncover her role in her friend’s disappearance, and may even reveal the identity of the killer . . .

'The best Scottish crime series since Rebus' – Daily Record

The Innocent Dead is the fifteenth book in the Rhona MacLeod series by Lin Anderson. It is followed by The Killing Tide.

Readers love The Innocent Dead:

'Lin Anderson delivers another belter of a book'
'I couldn't put the book down it was absolutely gripping'
'I enjoyed every single minute of it'

Perfect for fans of Ian Rankin, Martina Cole and
Silent Witness.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lin Anderson is a Scottish author and screenwriter known for her bestselling crime series featuring forensic scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod. Four of her novels have been longlisted for the Scottish Crime Book of the Year, with Follow the Dead being a 2018 finalist. Her short film River Child won both a Scottish BAFTA for Best Fiction and the Celtic Film Festival’s Best Drama Award and has now been viewed more than one million times on YouTube. Lin is also the co-founder of the international crime writing festival Bloody Scotland, which takes place annually in Stirling.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B085CJSV7H
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Macmillan (August 6, 2020)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 6, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3460 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 411 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 647 ratings

About the author

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Lin Anderson
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Lin Anderson is best known as the creator of the Forensic Scientist Rhona MacLeod series of crime thriller novels, and for her part in founding the annual 'Bloody Scotland' crime writing festival.

Lin's latest book is Book 18 in her Forensic Scientist Rhona MacLeod Series 'Whispers of the Dead', published on 1st August 2024.

There are 18 novels and one novella in Lin Anderson's Forensic Scientist Rhona MacLeod Series :-

Novella - Blood Red Roses (prequel to Driftnet)

Book 1 - Driftnet (Scottish No.1 best seller)

Book 2 - Torch (Amazon Scottish Crime No.1 best seller)

Book 3 - Deadly Code

Book 4 - Dark Flight

Book 5 - Easy Kill

Book 6 - Final Cut

Book 7 - The Reborn

Book 8 - Picture Her Dead

Book 9 - Paths of the Dead (Shortlisted for Scottish Crime Book of 2015)

Book 10 - The Special Dead (Longlisted for Scottish Crime Book of 2016)

Book 11 - None but the Dead (Longlisted for Scottish Crime Book of 2017)

Book 12 - Follow the Dead (Shortlisted for Scottish Crime Book of 2018)

Book 13 - Sins of the Dead

Book 14 - Time for the Dead (Longlisted for Scottish Crime Book of 2020)

Book 15 - The Innocent Dead

Book 16 - The Killing Tide

Book 17 - The Wild Coast

Book 18 - Whispers of the Dead

Lin has one stand-alone psychological thriller :-

The Party House (Scottish No.1 best seller)

Lin has a second mystery thriller series featuring private investigator Patrick de Courvoisier, set in glamorous Cannes (think 'The Rockford Files' meets James Bond) :-

Book 1 - The Case of the Black Pearl

Book 2 - The Case of the Missing Madonna

Lin has co-written with Donald McKay two books in a BLAZE DOG DETECTIVE series for children :-

Book 1 - The Magic Flag Mystery

Book 2 - The Dinosaur Mystery

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
647 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2021
    Excellent mystery and characters are real. Maybe a bit more exciting than real. Those introduced in her previous books are people we know well yet new circumstances keep us learning more and more.

    The locations are places I see although I’ve never been.

    I’m rereading the earlier books in the Dr. Rhonda McLeod series because I’m not read to let go.
  • Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2020
    In this latest novel by Anderson, The Innocent Dead, we head back to Glasgow where forensic scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod and her team at Police Scotland find themselves investigating and unravelling the 1975 cold case of a missing eleven-year-old girl after a child’s body is accidentally discovered in a nearby peat bog.

    The prose is seamless and crisp. The characterization is stellar with all the usual gang back including the meticulous, intuitive Dr Rhona MacLeod who’s still grappling with the psychological and emotional toll left by the sin-eater case. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unwind seamlessly into an engrossing tale full of abuse, deception, secrets, familial drama, red herrings, manipulation, violence, and murder.

    Overall, The Innocent Dead is a gripping, atmospheric, highly entertaining tale by Anderson that is another fine example of her exceptional ability to write police procedurals that have catchy storylines and fully-developed characters.
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2020
    THE INNOCENT DEAD by Scottish author Lin Anderson, is Book #15 in the Rhona MacLeod series.
    Rhona MacLeod is a forensic scientist who works very closely with Glasgow police investigators.
    “The present day discovery of a child’s remains in a peat bog south of Glasgow looks to finally solve a decades old mystery.”
    Well-drawn characters, tense plots and a great sense of place , all contribute to one of my favorite mystery series. ****
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2022
    First off, this is the 15th book in a series so if you don’t want to feel really sheepish later on you might want to either go in just knowing that before you read it or be really prepared and go back and read all the others first. The good news? I didn’t feel lost or out of place reading this one first but it really made me wish I had started the journey with these characters from the beginning.
    Second, and really having nothing to do with this book, I’m typing this while one of my cats is persistently trying to rub on my face and walk on the keyboard. Please forgive me for any typos I overlook while trying to get this done. Now, on to the book!
    A young girl’s disappearance ripped apart a local community and left wounds that are still incredibly raw to those whose lives she touched. So, you can only imagine the reactions when, in the present day, a child’s remains are found in a peat bog south of Glasgow. Now, with the help of more modern technology, it seems that this case may finally be solved and the responsible party brought to justice.
    When Rhona MacLeod is called in the excavate the body, she uses the tools available to her as a forensic scientist to figure out what actually happened all those years ago.
    Karen Marshall was one person who was key in the initial investigation. She was absolutely devastated by her best friend’s abduction and was questioned by the police at the time. Unfortunately it lead to a dead end and the case went cold. Now though the news of the body brings back nightmares for poor Karen and also causes her to start remembering things. Memories that begin to reveal that she may have had a role in the disappearance and just maybe she knows the identity of the killer.
    This book was really fun if you can possibly find the fun in a book about a child murder. I think maybe fun isn’t the right word. It was a really good read and the characters are all well written and know each other so well that it’s sort of like you are walking into their lives and hanging out with them. This is what made me wish I had started these books at the beginning. To grow along with the characters. I highly recommend you do that!
    This book takes place in Scotland, specifically the Glasgow area, so I think if you live there, have been there, or just enjoy books set there you’ll be interested in this. Me, I’ve never been but my husband is from Glasgow so I had a heads up on some of the towns and areas mentioned just from him talking about it. Things like that, that you can associate with on one level or another also really brings this book/the characters alive. The topic of the case isn’t the most pleasant, but those put on this case have the determination and intelligence to pull you in and not let you go till the very last word.

Top reviews from other countries

  • DR Naturegirl
    5.0 out of 5 stars No Let up For Quality Scottish Crime writing here...
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 19, 2020
    Lin Anderson delivers another belter of a book. Intricate well-crafted plot, complex characters and twists and turns that will leave you guessing until the end.

    Rhona Macleod is back on form, employing her forensic skills to
    unearth the killer of an 11 year old girl who was murdered 45 years
    deviously when forensics were not available. MacNab is piecing the jigsaw together ably abetted by his partner, Magnus Peerie, the Orkney Psychologist, and the original DI, on the case, Macreedie.

    The murdered girl’s childhood friend, Karen, is key to solving this particular crime. The demons of her past are deftly handled.

    This is crime writing a notch above the norm. Delve in and you’ll be hooked.
  • Janie
    5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 10, 2020
    A cracker from Lin Anderson. Great story , great plot and characters and all my favourites back . I cant recommend this book too highly . I read it in two days !
  • Margaret Jane Boyle
    4.0 out of 5 stars “Done in Two Days”
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 11, 2020
    I always look forward to reading Rhona’s next case. As a nurse I work long hours, when I buy my book I wait till I have a few days off before picking it up to read as I know it will be a page turner that I’ll find impossible to put down. I have enjoyed my time immensely, lounging on my couch with this fantastic book in one hand and my favourite tub of Pringles in the other. Bloody great read that was done in two days, which is good new for my waistline. When’s the next one ???....
  • Rebecca H
    5.0 out of 5 stars Another cracker from Lin Anderson
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 27, 2020
    What a brilliant addition to the Rhona MacLeod series from Lin Anderson. It's one of my favourite Scottish crime series and has been consistently excellent. When the body of a young girl is discovered preserved in the peat bank of a loch it resurrects an old case from 45 years earlier. The body turns out to be that of 11 year old Mary McIntyre who had gone missing all that time ago.
    Once again forensic scientist Rhona is called upon to investigate with the help of her lively assistant Chrissy and of course D.S Michael McNab. It tackles a very emotive subject and the plot is very cleverly constructed with several twists and turns which kept me gripped to the end. It's a difficult case and for the ex best friend of the dead girl a living nightmare which she has buried deep. As events unfold she is forced to confront the past. Tense and atmospheric with a dramatic climax it's another winner from Lin Anderson
  • PrimeDirective
    5.0 out of 5 stars Superb
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 10, 2023
    A marvellously twisted tale that will keep the reader on edge. The insights into the supposedly ‘more innocent’ times of the 1970s are absolutely credible. I lived through those times as a teenager, and remember well the adult attitudes of “We don’t talk about things like that.” There were plenty of rugs to sweep the dirt under.

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