Birthdays for the Dead cover art

Birthdays for the Dead

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Birthdays for the Dead

By: Stuart MacBride
Narrated by: Ian Hanmore
Try Premium Plus free

Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

About this listen

Twelve years. Twelve dead girls. Thirteen will be unlucky for some.

The Number One bestselling crime thriller from the award-winning Stuart MacBride. A bloody, brilliant and brutal story of murder, kidnap and revenge.

Detective Constable Ash Henderson has a dark secret…

Five years ago his daughter, Rebecca, went missing on the eve of her thirteenth birthday. A year later the first card arrived: home-made, with a Polaroid picture stuck to the front – Rebecca, strapped to a chair, gagged and terrified. Every year another card: each one worse than the last.

The tabloids call him ‘The Birthday Boy’. He’s been snatching girls for twelve years, always just before their thirteenth birthday, killing them slowly, then torturing their families with his homemade cards.

But Ash hasn’t told anyone what really happened to Rebecca – they all think she ran away – because if anyone finds out, he’ll be taken off the investigation. And he’s sacrificed too much to give up before his daughter’s murderer gets what he deserves…

©2012 Stuart MacBride (P)2011 HarperCollins Crime Thrillers Fiction Mystery Police Procedural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Crime Thriller

Critic Reviews

‘MacBride is a damned fine writer – no one does dark and gritty like him’ Peter James

‘The master of murderous mayhem is back to his best with a belter of a book … a page-turner’ The Sun
All stars
Most relevant  
great!!!!!! absolutely reverting story!!!! listened to it in record time!!! love ash and Alice!!!!! Please write more!!!!

Intensely addictive!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really enjoyed this book but it was rather violent. The performance was first class.

Entertaining but a little bleak.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
But worth it. With twists and turns galore, plenty of blood, gore and depravity, these poor characters are really put through the wringer for our entertainment. Chilling to the end.

Heavy going

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Don’t expect another Logan McCrae book. This is a much darker, more serious crime novel. MacBride has successfully departed from the dark humor of his other works. This novel is everything you’d want in a serious crime novel. I nearly didn’t buy this book because of the other reviews but I’m so glad I did. The narrator does an excellent job of the story. He adds gravitas to the slow burn and multi-level subtly of the plot.
If you loved Logan McCrae (& I do) don’t expect more of the same. If you love dark crime with interesting characters and twisted plots, then this is definitely for you.

Not McCrae but definitely excellent.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I've been listening to all of stuart mcbride's and was disappointed when the logan macrae series finished, but this has been really good. looking forward to the next.

very good.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved this book...made all the better by the awesome Narration. Eager to start No2

Gripping Story, A1 Narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I love Stuart MacBrides work, this one is totally different.
I think gritty is a good way to describe it. Ok the violence is very descriptive, but necessary because that’s what this book is. It’s not comedic like the Logan and Steele series, it’s a completely different style and feel. I really loved it. Ash and Alice are excellent characters and I really like Sabier, the narrator has brought them to life. It’s extremely well read.

Very different from his other books

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Sounded like a great story but I could not understand the thick Scottish accent. I have enjoyed the rest of Stuart Macbrides books but could carry on with this one.

Returned

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Ash Henderson is one sick 'bastardo' Stuart MacBride manages to make you feel sorry for characters who are truly disturbed, sad, damaged and very very angry. Great gory story telling. Tragic circumstances and ending. I am reading a happy uplifting story next.

Not for the squeamish

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book has no slow spots to allow you to catch your breath - it’s full speed from start to finish. Featuring the most wonderful duo in crime fighting, the disgraced cop, Ash, and Dr Mc Fruit Loops, the best thing about it is that these wonderful characters feature in more books, so we don’t have to say goodbye to them.

Dark, violent, brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.