Overall, I really enjoyed this dark, chilling, well-plotted story. It was intense and fast paced and I raced through this in a few hours, frantically turning the pages, Recommended ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When a gang of four teenagers decide to abscond with a large assignment of herein that they found little did they think of the consequences.. After two of the teenagers are killed in retribution and the others escape one a possible witness there follows a race for the police to find and save a witness and so bring guilty parties tp book. A most unusual detective story of street gangs, drug dealing, organised crime and police politics with an interesting cast of characters.

Run to Ground is the 3rd book in the Don Calyear series. I enjoyed the first two and eagerly awaited the third. I think Stuart Johnstone is an excellent author, but I feel that he is still finding his feet with Don Calyear. It might be because each book has been set in a different location and Don's job in the police force has changed. I find it hard to relate to him. Hopefully number 4 will be more settled and we can see Don develop into a strong character.
I enjoyed the story, it certainly kept my interest.
I see that David Monteith narrates the audiobook, so I will definitely be listening to it

Its always wonderful when you find a new crime writer that you love, and I know Im always going to look out for Stuart's books in the future.

I loved every page of Run To Ground, thanks to Allison and Busby for letting me read it. The characters felt very real and the plot line was definitely believable, I was glad that it was a police procedural rather than anything more gruesome and graphic, my tastes in books certainly veers away from anything bloody and violent!

The main character is DS Colyear, who is given the job of discovering what and who is behind a batch of dodgy drug deaths across Edinburgh. He is a very likeable detective, he doesnt seem too quirky or too out there as in some other crime thrillers, but he is real and fallible. His side kick Rowan Forbes is brilliant too and keeps him on his toes- they're a great investigative duo.

There are various criminal gangs involved along the way, some double crossing and dodgy dealings, and the story is told from multiple perspectives so you can see what's going through the minds of the criminals as well as the investigators. There are various levels of criminals, some professional drug gangs at one end whilst at the other end, a group of brothers are trying to get in on the action too.

It is fast paced and energetic, the storyline keeps developing with new details emerging and the investigation growing day by day. There are so many layers to the investigation, with rivalling police teams becoming embroiled along the way.

An excellent police investigation -congratulations to Stuart Johnstone, I look forward to reading more from DS Colyear as soon as possible!

Another twisty, fast paced, dark, and gritty thriller by Stuart Johnstone. A well plotted and gripping story that kept me on the edge and guessing till the end.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

A Smacking Crime Thriller....................
Run To Ground by Stuart Johnstone is an action packed crime thriller which keeps you on edge as the story advances. With each page the story takes a cryptic turn and the heat intensifies. Although, there are are too many characters and you need to remember all of them to enjoy the story. But, all these things contribute to the story and its climax efficiently. The plot encircles around gangs, drugs and police. And, you are definitely going to enjoy it.

Definitely, a 4 stars book. Thanks to Allison And Busby and Netgalley for providing me an opportunity to read and review the book.

Two young brothers and their friends steal MDMA to sell in their Edinburgh neighborhood. Instead, they discover that they have taken a partial shipment of pure heroin from some very bad people. The chase is on. Newly promoted DS Don Colyear and his partner TDC Rowan Forbes are investigating accidental drug overdoses caused by unusually pure heroin. Tracing it back to the original sellers leads them to the boys who, naturally, don’t want to have anything to do with Police Scotland. Nor do they want to be found by the men they stole from. These criminals aren’t looking for their drugs as much as they want to make an example of the thieves.

Run to Ground is the second in the excellent Don Colyear series but can be read as a standalone. This carefully plotted, deliberately slow paced police procedural features strong character development. Colyear and Forbes, who knew each other from early training, learn to trust each other as they share their personal lives. I’m looking forward to the next in the series! 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Allison & Busby and Stuart Johnstone for this ARC.

Run to Ground is the latest Don Colyear book by Stuart Johnstone and sees DS Colyear settling into a new role in Edinburgh CID but he still can’t keep out of trouble as the death toll mounts from a consignment of Class A drugs which once again sees him treading on various people’s toes.

The story moves along at pace and the book is an enjoyable read and one I would recommend.

Don Colyear has begun his career in Edinburgh's CID, but the transition has not been easy. The workload and paperwork are one thing but the micro-managed by DCI Templeton as well is more than testing. And when Colyear's investigation into a mysterious death sprial into a complicated case centered on a massive consignment of Class A drugs, a double murder and a clash between low-level and professional criminals, his instincts are put to the test.

The pace is slow to begin with, but it soon picks up. The characters are well developed and believable. This was such an easy book to read. We get some background story to the main character and his work relationships with the rest of the team. I quite enjoyed reading this book. The location is familiar to me. I do like a book where I know where the events are taking place.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #AllisonandBusby and the author #StuartJohnstone for my ARC of #RunToGround in exchange for an honest review.

An excellent, well researched and written police procedural thriller. Some very believable characters and a plot that in no way requires reality to be put on hold.
I found this to be a very gripping read, even though it was set out in such a way that as a reader I knew where it was going to take me with no sudden and ridiculous plot twists.

I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in the police procedural genre, particularly those interested in the "tartan noir".

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for my ARC in exchange for this honest review.

I enjoyed this read from Stuart Johnstone, and the catch up with DS Colyear in Edinburgh CID. The book was well written with the plotting being drugs related, it was certainly believable with plenty tension and good character development. I enjoyed the touches of humour with the team and the pace picked up after a slow start. It was an easy, solid read which I would recommend to lovers of the genre. I hope there will be another in the series. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Allison & Busby for an advance copy of Run to Ground, the third novel to feature DS Dan Colyear of the Edinburgh CID.

Don’s first few months in CID haven’t been great as DCI Templeman is taking a keen interest in the low level cases she has assigned him. He is therefore surprised when she asks him and TDC Rowan Forbes to investigate a drugs related death. This investigation quickly gets serious with murder, a large batch of heroin and some serious players.

I didn’t enjoy Run to Ground as much as the previous two novels in the series and it didn’t hold my attention. There is a variety of reasons for this, not least my mood and lack of concentration. The subject matter is drugs and I have little interest in either those who profit from others’ misery or the greed involved. Then there are the multiple points of view, every time I was getting in to a storyline the focus changed to another voice and another story. I didn’t find it immersive, especially when it is a choice between Don and his investigation or several drug dealers of varying likeability (not that the bar is very high on that scale). Lastly there isn’t much humour in the novel, the odd bit of banter that feels rather halfhearted.

On the plus side the novel is well constructed with one discovery or development leading to another and I liked the way the author slotted in the characters and their interactions. I think this is clever. I was also impressed by the way the infighting between departments was portrayed as the turf wars seems realistic.

Run to Ground is a solid read.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this eARC.

Having read the previous book I was looking forward to this one. I enjoyed this book, I thought it was a good read which was written well and it was easy to follow the plot line and story. It just didn't wow me. I really like the main character who is now in CID. The writing style is good and engaging and the plot line is believable and all to realistic, and I loved the humour in parts of the story. Colyear is pulled into a investigation that has many unexpected twists and turns and involves other divisions and areas. I enjoyed reading of his working relationships with his DCI and work colleagues and their banter and liked the small glimpses into his personal and home life. The story really gained pace as it progressed and I was glad to see some of the characters I didn’t like get their come uppance towards the end. Overall a good, solid police procedural that I would recommend.