Just excellent!!

Once again, Mr Lancaster has written another cracking addition to this series that just seems to get better and better. This can be read as a standalone but you will get much more out of it if you go back and read the rest in the series ... believe me, you will not be disappointed.

You would be hard pressed to find a more brilliant set of characters than DS Craigie and his team; their relationship and dialogue feels authentic and I love the banter between them that feels natural. This is a dark story but I found myself giggling away to myself at times which helped lighten the mood.

Full of suspense, twists and turns, this is great story that had me absolutely glued to my screen from start to finish and I cannot wait for the next in the series.

Highly recommended and many thanks to the author, HQ, HQ Digital and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of this excellent addition to the series.

Love this series and the latest didn’t disappoint. Hoping it’s not the last but given the way the storyline has wrapped up am a bit fearful it might be…..

Another gritty Police Scotland book by a master storyteller.
Just who can you trust? Keeps the reader guessing but what I like the best is the wonderful characterisation.. The people in the book just spring from the pages in a most believable way, the reader can almost see them and can definitely hear them with the great dialogue, nothing stilted here!

This book was simply fabulous. I've read most of Neil Lancaster's books to date and this one certainly does not disappoint. Featuring some of my favourite police personnel, it is extremely well written and I highly recommend it if you like police procedural crime novels. Works equally well as a stand alone novel.

Here I am again in my happy place, a Scottish crime thriller. This is the fifth in the DS Max Craigie series & what a belter it is. It can be read as a standalone but I would recommend you read the rest of the series, you can thank me later.

A prisoner asks to do a deal with the police. He knows where the body of a missing person is & the culprit too but he wants a reduced sentence & a nicer prison in exchange. He doesn’t want Max & his team involved but unfortunately that wish does not last long & the hunt for a killer & a mole is soon underway.

Twists, humour, new characters & red herrings lead you a merry dance in this brilliant police procedural. Yes, it is a shocking storyline but a great read all the same.

A superb installment in the Max Craigie series that is possibly the best one so far.
A tight, free flowing plot with excellent characters and a thrilling conclusion.
I must put Neil Lancaster on my favourite authors list so I don't miss the next one.

It's unusual for anyone from the Hardie family to approach the police. Neither side likes or has any respect for the other. But Davie Hardie is struggling in prison and he's prepared to tell the police where the body of a missing person is buried and who was responsible for her death. This person, he promises, is someone big and it will be worth the police doing what he wants. And what he wants is to be transferred to an open prison to serve the remainder of his sentence and to get an early parole date. Not much to ask, is it? The new Deputy Police Constable doesn't think so and she's even prepared to do the other thing that Hardie demanded - make certain that DS Max Craigie and anyone who works with him is kept well away from what's happening.

Of course, you can't keep a secret like this in Police Scotland and word soon gets back to DI Ross Fraser, DS Craigie and DC Janie Calder. They advise caution. Their advice would be not to touch the deal with a barge pole but the DCC has her own agenda. Solving the disappearance of Beata Dabrowski would be good: catching a prominent person would put her in pole position for when the Chief Constable position fell vacant. In the meantime, she's worried that Fraser and his team answered to the Chief Constable. She'd like them to answer to her - and possibly to disband the team entirely.

Craigie's got other things on his mind. Life at home is going to change but that's not going to stop him from discovering what Davie Hardie's up to. You'll have your suspicions about what's going on but Neil Lancaster keeps the tension high and there's never a dull moment right through to the final page. It's obvious who some of the bad guys are - the Hardies were never going to be on the side of the angels - but there's a real mystery about who is behind the deaths which pile up. The ending - when it came - was particularly satisfying. The clues were all there but I missed them.

It was a good, exciting read, but as well as reading the book, I listened to an audio download (which I bought myself) narrated by Angus King. His range of voices (male and female) is excellent and the pacing was very good. This is the first time I've listened to anything narrated by King but I'd be happy to hear more from him.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy of the Book to the Bookbag.

#Book5
title: The Devil You Know
author Neil Lancaster
genre Police Thriller
Out Now!

Yet again, another book in the DS Craigie series. Great to read about the characters again, within the police force. Serious
policing, with a sprinkle of humour - perfect!!
I can’t wait for the next one.

A book that at least for me I had to be free to just read quickly because there are a lot of names and police departments to keep in mind. Excellent plot with great characters and I was way out in guessing what was going to happen.

Book 5 in the Max Craigie series of brilliant police procedural novels that show the dedication needed for tough cases , but also the teamwork, black humour, banter and the healthy disregard for authority and those who try to interfere politically.
We start with a murder that happened years ago in which a Polish woman disappears, but her lover was a man with very high and important connections. Forward to the present, and a member of a well known criminal family decides to break with tradition and “ grass” to the Police in exchange for a more pleasant aspect to his imprisonment about this missing person.
Things never go to plan for Police Scotland as a force, they have been rocked with corruption cases, and this cold case could also prove to be messy with intelligence being leaked to criminals from serving officers. Who best to trust? Step forward the usual suspects.
Ross Fraser, is being his usual diplomatic self. Max Craigie and his team are challenged very strongly in their abilities, and coincidence and luck will always play a part. Barney, the technical guru, makes a reappearance in his campervan, and it is fair to say that there is a buzz in the air, and he gets good results despite only having good instincts and a leg to stand on.
I was pleased that I guessed the VIP. The action was frantic and gory, and never showed any signs of flagging.
My husband is retired Police, and has short term memory loss, but he was taken back to happier times reading this novel with me. He stated that idiots are still idiots and there is still no replacement for good solid detective work, something these novels portray very accurately.
A five star read.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers HQ Books for my advanced digital copy, freely given in exchange for my honest review. I will post to Goodreads and Amazon UK upon publication.

Fantastic read. Kept you guessing. So many twists and turns, it beat me. I didn't manage to work it out, which is unusual. Another amazing read by this author. Thank you.

I have been chomping at the bit waiting to read the next instalment in this brilliant series by Neil Lancaster. I loved being back with ‘the team’ Max, Ross, Janie, Barney and Norma to follow another exciting case.

For readers new to the series there are brief reminders on past events and team dynamics to help set the scenes clearly.

The book starts with the murder from six years ago, with the protagonists identification kept a secret, creating a mystery to draw my curiosity right from the opening.

‘Hardened criminals’ the Hardie brothers reappear to create havoc and with clear instructions not to involve DS Max Craigie or anyone in his team. Now for regular readers, you’ve got to wonder how this will change!

The story storms along at pace from there on in, tension ramping with theories flying around in my head. This covert team are all brilliantly well-rounded characters who I found myself caring about, willing them on, worrying about their safety and smiling at their antics, particularly Barney, the amputee tech wiz!

May there be many more in this series!

Loved this book, another great instalment in the DS Max Craigie series.
Picture this: Beata Dabrowski vanishes into thin air six years back after a meet-up with her lover. No trace, no clues, until now.
Enter Davie Hardie, the big shot gang boss behind bars. He's got a deal to make: spill the beans on Beata's burial site and the high powered man who ordered her death, in exchange for his ticket out of prison. But things are never that simple when you're dealing with the Hardie family as Max and his team already know! Things get hijacked, secrets are up for sale, and DS Max Craigie and his crew are thrown right into the middle of it.

Max and his team are on a mission. They're not just out to solve Beata's case; they are also out to expose the corruption rotting the police force and legal system from the inside. Together, they're fighting tooth and nail against the powers that be, all while trying to juggle their messy home lives.

What makes this book stand out is its twisty, turny plot that keeps you guessing till the very end. You've got this unreliable witness, Davie and then his brother, who are as sketchy as they come. You can't trust a word out of their mouths, and that just amps up the suspense. And then there's Max and his crew, each with their own demons to face, but united in their quest for justice.

The pace is relentless, the tension sky-high, and the stakes couldn't be higher. From the gritty streets to the corridors of power, you're sucked into a world where danger lurks around every corner.

So, if you're into gritty crime thrillers with a side of heart and humanity, "The Devil You Know" is your ticket to an adrenaline-fueled ride you won't soon forget.

An accomplished and well-plotted police procedural in the DS Max Craigie series. Somebody is killing key witnesses related to a cold case involving the Hardie crime family and also seems to be one step ahead of the police team investigating the killings. Somebody hugely influential is implicated and the team are having to investigate this person’s identity, the identity of the hired killers he has instructed as well as protecting the only remaining witness to the original crime. Tense and suspenseful, this is a compelling piece of work and a highly enjoyable read.

Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy.

Another in the series following Max Craig and the team. one of the Hardie brothers is willing to make a deal with the police. But the ambitious new ACC wants to keep Craig and the team away from the investigation, especially as they are sceptical of anything to do with the Hardies.
As expected, it all goes wrong and the team are called in. Things get even more exciting.
A good novel, lives up to the others in the series. Good characters and action.

Loved this book. I read it on holiday over 2 days! I literally couldn't put it down it was such a page Turner. That said I did figure out the ending!!!
Highly recommended.

Yet another great read for book no 5 in the Max Craigie series of Scottish fast paced crime thrillers from the excellent Neil Lancaster a true rival to Simon Kernick for all action page turning storylines.
All the usual team are involved with great characterisations of the main players, Max, Janie, Ross, Barney and Norma with all the normal banter between all five.
This sees Max and the team up against more members of the notorious Hardie crime family, bent police, and a mysterious Mr Big who is pulling the strings. Without given to much of the plot away (you need to read it) lots of twists and unexpected turns including a shoot out raid on a rural police station that bring the story to a gripping conclusion.
Neil Lancaster with his expertise in police procedure never fails to provide excellent well written storylines that have the reader hooked from the beginning, looking forward to the next book in the series.

Another top notch page turner in the DS Max Craigie series. The pace never flags, the characters are believable and the plot has a few cunning twists.
One of finest crime writers around today and perfect for any fans of Ian Rankin, James Oswold or Chris Brookmyre.

Phenomenal latest instalment of Max Craigie and his unconventional team policing the police. Great authentic characters and a tense plot I wish I could have read in one sitting. Will this be the end of the Hardie family or will there be more?

"I've a psychologically damaged ex-Met DS, an uptight, ex-public-school DC. a potty-mouthed analyste and an ageing, freeloading ex-spook on it." This is how the main characters in The Devil You Know are described by their boss, Detective Inspector Ross Fraser, but this misfit band do get the job done.
This time their task was to avenge the death of a Polish call girl, Beata Dabrowsk, who having met her lover one night was never seen again. Six years later imprisoned gang boss, Davie Hardie, wants to tell the police about her death and earn himself a lighter sentence by doing so.
However, it all goes pear-shaped as DS Max Craigie had predicted. A Hardie doesn't help the police. A Hardie only helps a Hardie.
This a fast paced read, with plenty of twists and turns and lots of dry humour that I very much enjoyed and I look forward to more in the series.
With thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for an arc copy in return for an honest review.