Having only read one previous book in this series, I struggled to keep the many characters straight in my head as the plot seemed to jump frequently without any notice. That being said, I enjoyed the main storyline and getting to know Costello and Anderson

A great, thrilling read, which will keep you entertained throughout. A good one sitting read, get the nibbles ready, close the door, and read!

Great little book but I personally think you need to read the rest in the series first, didn’t realise it was number 9! In all though didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the book and I thought it was a good novel with good characters and twits and I’d defo read more from the author, I’m now off to read the previous 8 😂

The Sideman by Caro Ramsay was a disappointing read for me. So much so that I failed to finish it. However, I believe I’d have enjoyed it if I had been up to date with her previous books in the series. I have read books by the author before but didn’t appreciate that the book would be so difficult, if not impossible, to follow out of sequence of the series. It’s a pity because I liked the style of writing and the characters were varied and interesting..

Thank you to Netgalley and Black Thorn, an imprint of Canongate Books Ltd, for the opportunity to read this book.

This was the first time I had anything by the author, so thank you goes to Netgalley and the publisher for bringing the series to my attention. I made the fundamental mistake of jumping straight in and didn't realise that this book was a follow on to Book 9 in the series. As such I struggled early on to get the characters clear in my mind. However as I read on things become clearer and I really enjoyed the book. The chemistry between Costello and Anderson certainly deserves further investigation. I will now be searching for some books in the series to read over Christmas. Would recommend without hesitation but read the series in order to avoid the initial struggle in understanding.

I very much enjoyed this book. It has a good story and excellent main characters. I would definately recommend this book.

I love a bit of Scottish crime, but really felt that this would have benefitted from my having read the rest of the series. That said, it was enjoyable, and I now want to read more from this author.

★★★ 2.5 stars

I'm no stranger to Caro Ramsay's gritty Anderson and Costello series, having read the first three some years ago and always enjoying it. So I was excited to read this tenth installment THE SIDEMAN, despite not having read the other seven in between. I don't think you lose a whole lot coming into the series midway though it may seem so when beginning this story.

However, because it appeared to have followed directly on from the previous book "The Suffering of Strangers" (which I have not read), I was feeling my way around the story somewhat blindly. It seemed I had missed out on something major by doing so. However, that doesn't seem to be the case. I went back and checked the description and reviews for the previous book...and there was no mention of the story that seemed to have already happened in this one. I think this is just the way Caro Ramsay wrote it. Which was somewhat confusing.

The story begins with DI Costello's resignation letter in which she states that the man she firmly believes is responsible for the death of his wife and son was in fact getting away with murder and the top brass were basically letting him do so. She pulled no punches in her thoughts, handing the letter in person to the Assistant Commissioner, her resignation effective immediately. Having now done so, Costello feels she can now investigate George Haggerty unofficially and without the constraints she had against her as a serving police officer. Telling no one, not even her partner of 20 years, DCI Colin Anderson, Costello left without a goodbye...and disappeared.

Colin Anderson, on the other hand, is worried about his partner and what trouble she may find herself in if she insists on going after Haggerty. He doesn't like the man, thinks he may well have something to do with the murders but his hands are tied as Haggerty has a cast iron alibi - he was stopped for speeding on the A9 some forty miles away. And he couldn't be in two places at once. But Haggerty and Anderson share a commonality. Baby Moses - Anderson's grandson via a daughter he never knew until DNA proved he was. His daughter from a drunken one night stand over two decades ago was also brutally murdered...though I am puzzled as to how she was killed and who by because although she was the adopted daughter of Abigail Haggerty, the murdered woman, she wasn't found at the scene. It appears her murder was separate but I have no idea how or why or even who. I just know that she had baby Moses who she was apparently trying to sell...but upon her death, Anderson then became the baby's guardian. And George Haggerty regularly visits to see Moses.

In amidst all that, a badly beaten body is discovered on a mountain. He was thought to be dead but authorities were surprised to discover he was still alive. The cold weather was on his side, slowing down the blood flow and preventing him from bleeding out from exsanguination. The cold weather saved his life. But who is he? He is in a coma, he cannot speak and there was no ID on him. Then a woman reports her husband, PC Donnie McCaffrey, is missing...having been called out on a job and never returned. Could this man be him?

The Salvos were out delivering warm blankets and food to the homeless in the approach to winter when they come across a dazed and confused woman. She reeks of alcohol, her eyes are glazed and she appears to have a serious head wound. She doesn't speak, so no one knows whether she is English or Eastern European. But she points to the Salvo's epaulettes which appear familiar to her. She is taken to hospital and medical staff are astonished at the injuries she has sustained - not just her head but slash wounds to her back, bruising to her face and defence wounds on her arms and hands. The nurse who has taken a keen interest in her tries everything to communicate with her. Who is this woman? And why won't she speak? It's not until the nurse goes home and is scrunching up paper for her fire that she sees a face in an old newspaper article...a face that she recognises.

And when a large quantity of blood is found lochside at Loch Lomond, further testing reveals one of the samples to be that of DI Costello. What was she doing at Loch Lomond? And where is she now? Could the missing man and injured woman have something to do with her disappearance?

Slow moving with a complex plot that I found difficult to follow, THE SIDEMAN takes the reader out of the confines of Glasgow city to the remoteness of the highlands. The description of the scenery is atmospheric but the story itself was so discombobulated I was thoroughly lost. What didn't help were the endless lengthy chapters which could have easily been cut down to several chapters where there was only one. Each chapter jumped from scene to scene and character to character. These would have been better off as new chapters and would have made the story easier to follow. I found myself lost several times through an hour long chapter, which in my opinion...is far too long. The story did begin to come together somewhere after the halfway point, which I felt was too long to start to make any kind of sense. And despite my initial confusion throughout most of the story, I was able to figure out who was responsible and a few other reveals as well.

As a whole, I feel there was far too much going on in THE SIDEMAN to make much sense and while I have enjoyed earlier novels, this one was just too discombobulated to follow smoothly. And please please please...no more lengthy chapters! Readers don't like them and they make it hard to just put the book down if one needs to in a hurry. Shorter chapters make this easier and helps the story flow better.

Having said that, I won't give up on the series, with Book 11 "The Red Red Snow" on my shelf to read also. Maybe I need to go back sometime and pick up where I left off initially. I must admit, while there was a passing mention of Helena (McAlpine), I did wonder what happen to her as the last book I had read "Dark Water" she was still very much on the scene and Colin Anderson was still very much frequenting her abode. Although readers must begin at the beginning to know who she is and where she fits in. In all, I still believe the first book "Absolution" to be the best book that I have read in this series.

A difficult read for me with its discombobulated (I do so love that word...thanks to Carol Wyer...lol) story, THE SIDEMAN would probably make a lot more sense having read the previous book "The Suffering of Strangers" . Although I wouldn't know as I haven't read it.

I would like to thank #CaroRamsay, #NetGalley and #BlackThorn for an ARC of #TheSideman in exchange for an honest review.

# The Sideman # Netgalley
This started of a little confusing at beginning. As Ds cosstelos letter of resignation being read. Yet none of the other officers seem to know anything at this point all assuming he either out or up to something. In his letter he aquses the higher dank of being in bed with him wharf his wife and daughter can not either. I was a bit disappointed all in all with this particular read. I didn’t think carol Ramsey was good as normal. With the Scottish gangster just keep getting his own way, with subtle twist and turns right through the book.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

I have not read the other books in the series so I was a little in the dark. Nevertheless, a good read There was a lot going on and I was a little unsure of the events that followed, still well-written with good characters. I think it is best to read the books in sequence.

This is a complex book, but a lot of that is due to style rather than plot. The back and forth of the opening chapters, seems designed to create confusion. The division of chapters, particularly early chapters, into short episodes involving the main protagonists is reminiscent of TV shows. In the latter, of course, we have faces and visible locations to help with the intercutting. Garnering this from text alone is a test of memory. In essence, the plot involves an initial murder where the best suspect has a cast iron alibi; a detective who refuses to believe this and goes off on her own; and investigations involving a cast of characters, police, fiscals, victims, survivors, the majority of whom appear to be related by marriage or genetics. This is interesting as a trope but seems unnecessary as a plot device. Hacking my way through these issues I find a story which isn’t all that complicated. The action takes place up and down the Scottish northwest coast so there is one anomaly which slightly bemused me: why does no one really speak with a suitable accent, idiom or syntax?

I really struggled with this, the plot was great, characters seemed good but I just felt like I was missing something, I spent the best part of the book utterly confused and am still not sure what was going on. I’m afraid this wasn’t what I had hoped for.

Very confusing book to the point of me almost giving up. It is a stand alone but because it’s in a series it does seem to lose something mi felt I was missing some vital piece of information or maybe more than one.

A difficult read for me as I didn't remember the earlier book. I just stuck to the investigation part of it and read those pages.

The plot was complex, quite cleverly written. There were a lot of subplots and characters which quite confused me some ways. That was just due to me not having the concentration in this world crisis.
Overall, a good read.

A woman & her son are found murdered. Detective Costello is convinced that the woman's husband is responsible but he seems to have a cast iron alibi. When no-one else seems to go along with her she abruptly resigns & & goes to ground. Colin Anderson is worried about his friend & colleague. Events lead him to question the case more closely.

It was probably a mistake choosing to read a book that was tenth in a series. I chose it because the settings were familiar & it sounded as if it would be a good story- & overall it was. However because there was so much relying on the the back story- which was extremely complex- I found it difficult to give it more stars.Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

Having previously read the excellent standalone novel, Mosaic by Caro Ramsay, I decided to take a chance and read this book, The Sideman. Although diving in headfirst at book ten was probably, with hindsight, a little reckless, nevertheless, I still liked this taut story but I would probably have appreciated it more had I read at least book nine in the series first.

This gritty police procedural is set in Glasgow and features DI Costello and DCI Colin Anderson. George Haggerty is a murderer and DI Winifred Prudence Costello knows it, despite him having a cast iron alibi for the murders of Abigail, his wife, and Malcolm, his son. Unable to let the matter rest, she decides to go solo to bring about his arrest, tendering her resignation. Meanwhile DCI Anderson has his own set of tribulations going on. Police Scotland is dealing with several apparently unrelated incidents: a body is found on a remote highland hillside, a woman with amnesia and a skull fracture is found in Glasgow city centre and a large quantity of blood is found on the shores of Loch Lomond.

With its mixture of clever plotting, suspense and atmospheric Scottish locations, The Sideman is an exhilarating read. There is some switching of perspectives from different characters and events until the story settles mainly on DCI Colin Anderson's viewpoint. With a sizeable chunk of good twists and unexpected surprises I have been inspired to read more from this series and accomplished author.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Canongate/ Black Thorn via NetGalley and this review is my unbiased opinion.

I was a bit confused reading this because I didn't know any of the characters or storyline. This is book 10 in the series.

Its atmospheric and gritty and everything you want in a this type of story.

It kept me gripped from the start.

A fast paced, gripping and gritty story that kept me hooked and entertained till the last page.
I appreciated the well crafted plot that flows, the solid mystery and the fleshed out and interesting cast of characters.
It's the first book I read in this series and won't surely be the last.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I haven't read the previous books in this series and as this one followed on I lost some of the benefit. There is a lot going on in the story and it is very confusing at times.

3.5 stars
This is the 10th in a series and was clearly a part two of book 9. So having not read any of the prior books I was at a very big loss. There were so many characters! Looks like there was a guide in the beginning that may have been helpful but since I read it on a kindle I could not refer back to it. I enjoyed the writing and had I not been so confused I think I would have enjoyed the story more. But to me it felt disjointed.