The Devil You Know is the fifth book in the Max Craigie series which just keeps getting better and better. Davie Hardie is not enjoying his stay in Shotts prison, and wants to do a deal – something no one his family has ever contemplated before – but insists that Max Craigie is not involved. He claims to know the location of the body of Beata Dabrowski who disappeared without a trace six years previously. Her former lover is now a high profile individual who will stop at nothing to protect their reputation, no matter who gets caught in the crossfire. The plan goes awry, and Max’s team have their work cut out to discover the source of the leaked information, and who is behind Beata’s murder. Time is not on their side.
As with the other books in this series, humour is used to good effect to offset the dark subject matter. Neil Lancaster’s experience as a detective gives the narrative an authentic feel – he knows how it all works, and while it is a work of fiction, it rings true. It also raises the question of how ethical it is for the police to do deals with criminals, though the closure obtained by the families surely makes it worthwhile in most cases. The Scottish settings are an added bonus for me, as I can picture where they are as they travel about the country.
While the gripping plot and action-packed narrative will keep the reader on the edge of their seat, the reason this series is so good is the cast of characters that go to make up the Policing Standards Reassurance Team. In this fifth book in the series, the team is now well established with each of them bringing their unique skill set to the mix, and here they are not just fighting criminals and corrupt officers, but for their unit’s very survival. I look forward to reading the next instalment in this phenomenal series. Thanks to HQ Digital and NetGalley for a digital copy to review.

I'm now really into Neil Lancaster's series of books covering the goings on of Scotland's equivalent of Line of Duty's AC - 12.
Max Craigie and his small dedicated team are tasked to interrogate and keep safe a career criminal from unknown professional assailants, who despite everyone's efforts at secrecy remain one step ahead.
The pressure on the team ramps up, no one is safe from the merciless as they track their target. All to protect an mysterious personage known only as "The Ace".
Mr Lancaster keeps the reader on edge, and the under pressure team of excellent characters use dark humour as a release valve.
All around brilliant. Hurry up with the next book Neil

The latest novel in the Max Craigie series from Neil Lancaster is another well written, well thought out police procedural. Anyone familiar with the TV series ‘Line of Duty’ will know what to expect.
In this outing Max and the team come up against a new deputy chief constable who is determined to do things her way and thinks that the team should report to her and not directly to the Chief who is away on holiday. Consequently she tries to keep them out of the loop when one of Max’s old adversaries, Dave Hardie wants to broker a deal from prison by offering to show where a body is buried. But someone doesn’t want it found and when thing go wrong Max is once again there to pick up the pieces.
A good read.

A gripping and enjoyable read - a real page-turner. Will look for more by this author. highly recommended.

If ever a book series was perfect for a television series then this is it!
Action packed, fast paced and with a well drawn cast of characters it is a series that just keeps on giving.
Highly recommended and an easy 5***** rating.

***This is book number five in the DS Max Craigie series and although it can be read as a stand alone I highly recommend reading the previous books for the back story.

I've enjoyed all the previous books in the Max Craigie series, so was looking forward to this latest one. It certainly didn't disappoint. A young woman disappeared without trace 6 years ago. Now prison inmate Davie Hardie, part of the notorious Hardie family, says he knows what happened and can lead police to her body in exchange for his freedom. But the Hardie family would never cooperate with the police, so what is he up to? This is a fast paced story with lots of twists and turns. I love the characters and the dialogue is often hilarious! Thiswill keep you guessing to the end.
Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

Six years ago, a young Polish woman went missing and there have been no leads until now. A gangland boss confirms that she was murdered, and he is willing to provide details of the deposition site of the body and evidence to convict an individual, who has since risen to some power. There are conditions that need to be met, but these would be acceptable in exchange for a spectacular collar.

The criminal is Davie Hardie a man who is well known to Max Craigie, who put him behind bars. Part of the deal is that Max and the team have no influence within the case. An outrageous demand, but with Chief Constable Macdonald on holiday it suits the plans of his deputy DCC Campbell, who sees sidelining them the first step in getting rid of them entirely.

Sadly for the DCC, events take an unexpected course and the Chief Constable places the PSR team in charge of rescuing the position.


The question the reader must ponder over, in this story, is the morality of doing deals with convicted killers. This is a question posed in the real world, where quite rightly there is a reluctance to do so and be seen to be rewarding murderers. This is particularly difficult where the offer is to reveal where bodies are buried, thereby giving some measure of closure to the family left behind. Career minded senior officers can see the rewards of clearing up old cases as a boost, as does DCC Campbell, but how far do you trust a lying ‘lag’? In the case of Max Craigie not far at all. Max ends up with a compliment from the most unlikely of sources, as the only copper to be trusted as being straight in Scotland.

Once again, the action is quick fire and relentless. Like those before it, it is a real page turner but one where you will have to pause to catch your breath at times. There are grim prison scenes, aspects of violence and bloodshed at times, which go hand in hand with the subject matter and give it a sense of authenticity. So, there’s more than enough thrills and danger for most readers.

The darkness is offset with a rich vein of humour with contractor Barney a particular delight as the tight Yorkshireman, but they all get some great lines. It is very much an ensemble piece with fabulous interactions between the team members, with their individual stories growing with each new instalment.

Naturally away from the central players, the other characters become sketchier but avoid being cartoonish caricatures, although one is nicknamed Droopy after the ever-morose cartoon dog. The Hardies and Droopy pack enough menace to go around, though my personal favourite was Leo the dodgy solicitor acting for the Hardies.

I would like to thank Net Galley the publisher and author for access to this title in exchange for a fair review

I can’t say that I enjoyed this book at all. I have previously read about Max Craigie but I felt that the book was quite drawn out and boring.

This series gets better and better, gritty clever plot and again keeps you engaged with great characters and settings, feels so real, can’t wait for the next.

this is a series that I have thoroughly enjoyed. Max Craigie against the Glasgow Mafia. Now Max must deal with a Hardie who prmises to squeal as long as he is not involved. Glasgow's police force is riddled with informers and not on it's public side. This book in the series has more deaths than you can shake a stick at but max will eventually pull through. Ther is action on every page, more twists and turns than aon a mountain road and a thourougly enjoyable conclusion. I look forward to the next in the series

A great book that was full of suspense and questions as to what is going on! Thoroughly worth every moment of reading it

Excellent read. Memorable characters and a good story. Love a good police procedural!
Recommended.

This is the third book I've read in the Max Craigie series - think I need to catch up on the other 2! I love the characters and fast paced excitement as well as personal insights into the players. This book was another great story with corruption, criminal gangs and prison life and builds on past stories. I can't believe this hasn't been made into a series yet!

DS Max Craigie, Book 5 a great read. Fast paced that keeps you hooked from the first page I found it hard to put down once I had started it.

Excellent read. A well researched storyline that keeps you in suspense until the very end. Well written. As a lover of crime novels I would read other books by Neil Lancaster. Highly recommended.

Another brilliant crime novel by Neil Lancaster - now one of my favourite writers. I loved this story, like the last ones, and could hardly put it down. A great plot with constant suspense and interesting characters. I hope there will be more in this series.

I have read all of the Max Craigie books and have thoroughly enjoyed everyone. I devoured this book in a day (on holiday luckily!)

Beata Dabrowski disappeared 6 years ago, reported missing but no sign of her, and was never seen again

Gang boss David Hardie, from the notorious crime family has decided to do the one thing his family would never do and that's squeal to the police about where she is buried. There is a condition Max Craigie must not be involved at all or the deal is off.

Absolutely brilliant, page turning doesn't even cover how good this book is.

Highly recommended and can't wait for the next instalment

I was recommended to read the Neil Lancaster Max Craigie books and I was not disappointed this is a real page turner. Max, Janie and the gang are not initially involved in the story, but things soon change after Davie Hardie a member of a notorious crime family is shot by a sniper. Its obvious that someone in Police Scotland had passed info on to the sniper which means Max and Janie are called in to find the corrupt police. Lots of action follows with lots of twists and turns to find the culprit.
Always a great read from Neil with his knowledge of police procedure, looking forward to book six.

I always look forward to Max Craigie books. This one starts with the murder of Beata and then moves forward six years. One of the Hardie brothers Davie from a well known family with a criminal enterprise tells his solicitor, he knows who killed Beata and will lead him and the police to her body. The only problem is Davie is in prison and let’s just say, his attempt to help the police doesn’t go quite to plan. Lancaster takes up on a whirlwind chase with Max Craigie back in action. There is clearly a high level criminal at work and they seem to be one step ahead in evading Craigie and colleagues. As always, an engaging compulsive read with smatterings of black humour, true grit and lots of action. Max Craigie has a good career ahead of him in Neil Lancaster’s hands.

I love a good detective novel and this didn't disappoint. The twists and turns along the way took me by surprise and the twist at the end was unexpected. Good characters and weirdly start rooting for the bad guys!