I really love reading Stuart's books, and can't wait to read the next one. I am just ashamed to say I haven't had a lot of time for reading lately, but that will be one of my new year's resolutions!
TB

A dark and twisted novel by Stuart MacBride. DS Lucy McVeigh has been contacted by Benedict Strachan. Benedict brutally murdered a homeless man when he was just 11 years old. Now, aged 27, he has been released and is terrified that 'they' are out to kill him. He begs Lucy for help but will not tell her anything abouts what happened or who 'they' are. Whilst Lucy is determined to get to the bottom of Benedict's case, she is currently suffering with PTSD from a recent attack which left her brutalised and the offender dead. Despite being warned off several times, her sheer determination pushes her ahead It gets a bit strange towards the end but and enjoyable read.

Stuart MacBride’s latest novel in the Oldcastle series introduces new leads with DS Lucy MacVeigh and her partner DC Duncan 'the Dunk' Fraser. Despite 17 months of silence from the elusive Bloodsmith, the case falls to MacVeigh and the Dunk after the police hierarchy washes its hands of the operation. As they revisit the five victims, new evidence surfaces, though connecting the dots proves challenging.

MacVeigh, grappling with PTSD and a troublesome therapist, is also dealing with a stalker and an unwelcome blast from her past. Meanwhile, released convict Lucas Weir seeks her help, claiming he’s being pursued. The story’s unexpected twist may be polarizing, but MacBride’s trademark blend of dark humour and thrilling narrative remains strong. An entertaining read with a dose of the unsettling. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC.

Well was I in for a shock. I was expecting to read a police thriller in the style of Logan Macrae. Wrong! The tale exactly as expected. In true detective style the irreverent and independent Lucy McVeigh with her slow and untidy partner the Dunk are investigating a searching for an illusive and barbarous serial killer who has eluded the police of this fictional Scottish city for almost a year.
Lucy is back at work, after being the victim with her girlfriend, of a violent sexual attack. She escaped by killing the perpetrator.
Everything is going as expected, when cracks begin to appear in both your understanding of the investigation, and the behaviour of the characters. Then BAM! We are off the wall in completely new and unexplored territory.
A brilliant volte-face. An uncertain conclusion. Well worth the read, and maybe a whole new series of cases for Lucy McVeigh, antihero?

Loved this. Not a Logan but still clever and funny and a little bit bonkers. Stuart Macbride has the talent of writing the most outlandish plotlines but as a reader you just go with it. As for dark humour, he is king.

Sadly this isn’t good - at all. I’ve tried to look for some good, but there wasn’t much to redeem this, unfortunately. I’ve read and liked the Logan McRae series by the author, which is why I wanted to read this… but crikey, it was pretty bad. None of the characters are remotely likeable or even sympathetic. Her partner is ridiculously called The Dunk, dresses like a beatnik poet mime and has a real beef about the rich. Everyone has nicknames like Monster Munch. Tudor wafts in and out ineffectively, moaning about how the higher ups have put him in sole charge because then they can pin the blame on him when they fail to solve it. Our main protagonist, Lucy McVeigh, just shouts, screams or sarcasms a lot. And it’s a very slow, long read - starts out with two kids chasing and about to kill a homeless man, then segues off into the police trying to find a serial killer after over a year of no results… they retrace their steps over the crime scenes which takes a really long time. Eventually it all comes together, but as other reviewers have said, about 80% in, the plot takes a surreal and unbelievable change of direction (even worse, I spotted it coming beforehand so there wasn’t even surprise). It was just an awful ending to a pretty poor book unfortunately. I wish I could find something to like about it, because I do remember liking the McRae series - but looking at other reviews, I am clearly not alone in how I feel about this book… sorry Stuart 😢

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review. Apologies for the delay in providing this.

Really enjoyed this - will definitely be recommending and looking forward to the next one by this author!

I love Scottish crime novels, and I've read several Stuart MacBride books that I enjoyed - especially the Logan Macrae books. However, this was not for me. I found the violence gratuitous in places and the last part stretched the limits of credibility.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

At over 18 hours long I found this to be really long and really dragged out. I enjoy multiple timelines and hopping from one to the other but this one was very disjointed and didn’t work. I found there was times I didn’t know what was going on. Think it took me awhile to get into it due to it being such a slow burn. I really LOVED Lucy and ‘The Dunc’ as partners and their humorous tirade with each other was really well done. It’s not easy to write funny dialogue and have a listener burst out laughing but the author did a great job here. Once it picked up and I got into it I was engaged and interested but then at 80% in it’s like I was listening to a totally different book or the last 20% didn’t actually belong to this book. It just got so ridiculous and out there I lost all interest. It felt like the author was trying to achieve a big twist but just took it too far to the point of unbelievable. Overall there was to many things that didn’t work for me and I was looking forward to getting to the end.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK for the opportunity to listen to and review #NoLessTheDevil

Have read other stuff by this author and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately I just couldn't get into this one and did the unforgiveable...I gave up on it.

As ever a bloody good read from MacBride

You come to expect a good story and a good read from Stuart MacBride and yet again he delivers on both counts. In this one the police are searching for The Bloodsmith who is a serial killer and from the name you can guess what he does to his victims. DS McVeigh and her sidekick the Dunk are on the hunt and going through crimes scenes working out if it is the Bloodsmith or not and trying to get him. All the while McVeigh is dealing with her own PTSD. Is there more than one killer about.....who knows?
As ever there are so many twists and turns and MacBride moves the plot and sends us everywhere but he does it not only with the blood but also with humour.
A different ending in this one to some he has written but the enjoyment and writing are as good as ever.

This had everything that Stuart has given us in previous tomes....a gritty read1 However, as good an author as he undoubtedly is, I felt the plotting to this book went off the rails towards the end, which sadly spoiled the experience for me. Many thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is an emotive case for DS Lucy McVeigh. As well as a serial killer stalking the streets she has to deal with a young homeless man who was accused of a terrible murder when he was just a child. Everyone else wants to write him off but Lucy is sure there is more to his story, that he is not just a sociopath. This story winds its way along a road which has more twists and turns than a maze which makes it a compelling and gripping read.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

This is the first book I have read from Stuart MacBride. I enjoy a crime novel, especially ones with strong, female leads.

In this, DS Lucy MacVeigh is clearly a troubled officer with a traumatic past. She is working on the Bloodsmith case, a serial killer who has murdered a number of people and continues to remain at large. Despite the grisly content, the novel is filled with satire and humour so you find yourself gripped, but laughing throughout.

I have to mention the final twist - without giving anything away, I will be honest, I found it a bit too outlandish for me and this did lead me to be disappointed with the end. However, this hasn’t stopped me from giving it a 4 star review, because the rest of the novel was so good.

Full of his usual biting wit and scathing sarcasm, No Less the Devil delivers us a new set of functioning dysfunctional coppers, with slowly unravelling hidden histories for us to meet, get to know and enjoy spending time with.

It's also a bit of a change in style from his previous series. I'll be intrigued to see where this one goes.

I enjoyed this book. The ending was nothing like I’ve read before and I never would have guessed it.
Worth reading!

I’ve only recently discovered Stuart MacBride’s novels and have been reading them back to back although I’m keeping the Logan McRae books for a holiday. So far everything I’ve read has been brilliant and No Less the Devil did not disappoint. DS Lucy McVeigh is working on operation Maypole, a serial killer named The Bloodsmith has been at large for 17 months and the police are out of clues, the press is vilifying them and the top brass are looking for a scapegoat. If that weren’t enough Lucy is recovering from her own ordeal having recently returned from medical leave. However Lucy is also trying to find a missing prisoner who is out on license having served a sentence for killing a homeless man when he was 11 years old. Benedict turns up at the police station. and appears to have had some type of mental breakdown as he keeps referring to ‘them’ and that he will try again and get it right next time. So Lucy is trying to stop Benedict from killing again, locate new clues for the Bloodsmith case and recover from her own trauma. If that weren’t enough she ends up being followed around by an officer from Proffessional Standards.
A wonder thriller that took a very unexpected turn. Hoping there’s a further instalment of DI Lucy McVeigh

The ending on this one was just. NOT. FOR. ME.

This one started off great and right up my alley. For 17 months a serial killer dubbed the Bloodsmith has been eluding the police, and now it seems he has been re-visiting all his previous crime scenes and leaving brand new, cryptic messages at them.

On top of that, Lucy, the investigating detective, is also facing a blast from the past from one of her old cases: Benedict Strachan has been released from prison, after serving a sentence for killing a homeless person when he was just 11 years old. Nobody ever got to know why he did it. Now, Benedict is in a state – he is adamant shadowy “they” are after him and is begging Lucy for help.

With this premise, I was super eager to dig into this one. I faithfully followed Lucy re-visiting the old crimes scenes, went through frustrating and puzzling conversations with Benedict, accompanied her to an old, mysterious academic institution where the leads took her, racked my brain on who was behind the murders and who the sinister “them” were. It was a cool ride, even though the author seems to be addicted to adjectives.

But then, the ending. I did not see that coming. It was highly unrealistic and felt disjointed from the rest of the book. It felt like the last 20% of the book was written by a different author.

Most importantly, it made the entire book immoral (and before you think of that, not in any sex-related way. Nothing to do with sex). Mind you, I am super liberal in my approach to any “morality” in books. But this one is on another level. The message of this book is horrendous and I hate it.

I gave it 2 stars, because the plot was creative. I just wish it didn’t end the way it did.

READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

I loved bits of this book but the ending really didn't work for me.

Setting in a fictional town that was close enough to real towns all over Scotland, really irked me, I couldn't and still don't see the reason behind that choice.

Setting aside, the first 80% or so of the book is exactly what I expected it to be, a gritty and dark police procedural with an interesting plot. Then it got weird and it stopped working for me.

I applaud trying something new, and I hope there are enough people out there who love it enough the author keeps trying new things, maybe the next one will land on my sweet spot.

Totally unputdownable (is that a word?!)
This was a really well written book and had me totally on the edge of my seat a few times. It was very well written and the story flowed well and I didn't want it to end. Highly recommend.