This is a slow burn
It is an enjoyable enough police procedural but it is nothing original
There is some humour in the book

Great plot to get yourself lost in. This book has everything. A real fast paced thriller. Will get your heart racing on more than one occasion. Very well written. Highly recommend this book

When a superior officer’s decision not to respond to a routine disturbance has fatal consequences, Colyear finds himself sent away from Glasgow to work in a remote Highlands town.

Settling into his new town, he's been noticing that several teenagers have disappeared .. and the authorities don't seem to know anything about it .. or they just don't care.

When a groundsman from the local sporting estate is gruesomely murdered, Colyear suspects that long-held secrets could be coming to the surface.

Pretty much investigating on his own, he finds more questions than answers. The one thing he does know ... he's being targeted. Someone will do anything ... anything at all .. to keep the town's secrets buried.

Although he has written other things, this is his first crime thriller. He has a history of working as a police officer just outside Glasgow for a period of 10 years. This book was inspired by a disturbing incident from his time in the police. As such, I expected a great deal of credibility ... I was not disappointed.

The plot is intriguing, but the suspense moved very slowly. I liked the characters ... Colyear and his new rookie in particular. I loved the background ... visiting Scotland has been on my bucket list for years. I was expecting more .. but overall, it was a good read. I look forward to the next in the series, INTO THE DARK.

Many thanks to the author / Allison & Busby / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the free book. The pace was very slow for me. I couldn't relate to the characters at all and hence I had DNF'ed it.

Out in the Cold
by Stuart Johnstone

5 Stars

Grips the reader from the first word to the very last.

Full of twists and turns, “Out in the Cold” is an easy and engaging read.

Police sergeant Don Colyear is in trouble as often as not. Sent to work in a remote Highlands town. He doesn’t want to be there and the feeling is mutual. His new inspector wants him gone and the locals wonder why he’s even there. Still, Don makes a go of things, striking up a good working relationship with rookie officer Rowan Forbes.

As Don starts to investigate petty crimes, it soon becomes clear that there is something off about the town. A string of teenage disappearances have not been given due attention. As Don delves further into the town’s secrets, it’s not long until his own life is at risk.

The unanswered questions at the end leaves the reader wanting more.

This title has been reviewed by www.books-reviewed.weebly.com

This title was provided by Netgalley and the publisher in return for an open and honest review.

#OutInTheCold #NetGalley

I was caught in the first chapter and high hopes but the 2nd chapter lost me so I skimmed ahead, read the end and got the gist of the story but did not feel inclined to read it from beginning to end. I tried a few other places in the book but decided that at this time this book was not for me so DNF. I hope it does well.

This book intrigued me from the start.


When this story begins, we follow Don as he goes through a series of flashbacks, showing his life at work and then finding himself in a rather compromising position. I did find this initial part of the story somewhat confusing, but it did give the character more depth as the story progressed.

The authors attention to detail was wonderful, and the way in which he brought the town and areas in which the story takes place to ;life in the readers mind really made you feel fully immersed in the story.
The characters were well developed and had interesting personalities.
I really enjoyed this book and the way in which the story played out to the very end, keeping me well and truly invested in this story.
A fantastic read.

For Don Colyear the terms 'gut feeling' and 'gut instinct' take a very literal form as in whenever he is hit with one, it results in acute stomach cramps. This unique intuitive sense of his has helped him out in the past as well as got him in trouble. One such scenario has resulted in him being 'transferred' to a small Highland town of Stratharder as a Sergeant. It is a small town with a small community where everyone knows everyone else and seems to have a next to nil crime rate. But a chance hint about a missing young girl followed by a gruesome occult related murder of a middle aged man slowly unravels the dark secrets and danger that this town holds.

This actually turned out to be an interesting police procedural. I wasn't so sure about it initially but I am glad I continued with it. The book is written in the past and present format and it was initially a bit confusing figuring out which bit was what but not for long. I liked Don Colyear--he is smart, with a sense of humour and his natural intuitive sense makes him see and figure things out which no one else does in a similar circumstance. Constable Rowan Forbes, the young policewoman whom he takes under his wings at Stratharder is a good match for him--she is intelligent, has spunk and is quick to pick directions and things from him.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Allison and Busby and the author Stuart Johnstone for the e-Arc of the book.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐✨💫

Stuart Johnstone is a new author to me but #OutInTheCold has made sure that I will be looking out for more of his work and as any self respecting bookworm knows it's always a pleasure to find a new author to add to the list. I've got my fingers crossed that this is the start of what is going to be a decent SPP (Scottish Police Procedural).

In this we meet Sargent Don Colyear who is freshly promoted and shipped out to Stratharder up in the Highlands, a place that he assumes is going to be a sleepy backwater where nothing much would be happening, that turned out to be a bit of a mistake. It seems as if like any other small town it has it's secrets. The natives treat him as if he were an interloper which is to the detriment of the main case in #OutInTheCold and small towns/large villages are like this I know from my own experience.

The new boy in Stratharder is teamed up with rookie Constable Rowan Forbes and there's plenty of 'bantz' between them which I think will be much needed as I expect Stratharder to become a rather dangerous place to live. I must admit it will be interesting to watch some of the other characters develop as the series goes along.

As we learn about the incident that had him transported to the back of beyond and how because of said incident he now has many enemies within the police fraternity. This has ovbiously left him with doubts of his 'intuition' and a sense mistrust, not that that comes as a surprise.

Stratharder appears to be an almost sleepy serene kind of place to live, with not much more than a batch of mindless vandalism and a possible murder it doesn't seem too hectic a place. Underneath that cosy exterior ther'es a spate of missing teenage girls that appear to be almost being ignored and Dan just can't allow this to continue and as you can guess resolving this is going to be anything but plain sailing.


Read for an honest review. Thanks to Stuart Johnstone, #Netgalley and Allison & Busby

I found this story gripping and entertaining.
It’s a bit slow at the beginning as it’s most character building and the flashback are a bit confusing but it’s also a very enjoyable and well written mystery.
I hope this is the first in a series because I loved Don and Rowland.
Recommended
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this arc, all opinions are mine

After a nasty incident in Glasgow Don Colyear is sent to Stratharder, North of Oban. He is not exactly made welcome. The local Inspector wants him gone as soon as possible, the locals wonder why he's there. The only bright spot is the eager young constable, Rowan. At first it seems a very quiet posting, dealing with small vandalism cases. When a local man is found dead in odd circumstances things get a bit more complicated! The story switches from present to past & back again, which makes it somewhat difficult to follow. This book appealed to me because of its setting. Overall it was a bit of a disappointment. However I liked the characters well enough & if there was a follow up I would be quite keen to read it.

Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

was rather a fan of this novel- I do like a good Scottish setting, that plus the small town vibe and an interesting, relatable and darkly humorous main protagonist made this an excellent read.

There’s also of course the intuitive undertone to it that you would think might offer our Sergeant Colyyear an edge but somehow gets him into as much trouble as it gets him out of..

Therein lies one of the main hooks in this read for me – it is a crime novel plus, offering a decently unpredictable mystery, a group dynamic of vibrant characters and some really great writing but also an extra layer. I loved that aspect of it especially given the subtle way it was embedded into the story.

Overall a great read, memorable and clever. I hope there’s more to come.

Recommended.

My review may seem as mixed up as the plot because although I really engaged with Don and Rowan the plot of the book left me confused. It maybe that the formatting for my ARC didn’t help but it was certainly unclear when past and present times were swapped about. I thought the setting was described well but I wasn’t taken with any of the characters apart from the two I’ve mentioned. If this is the first of a series with Don and Rowan I think it could work well providing a bit less cluttered storyline was written.

After an incident makes it impossible to stay in Glasgow, Sergeant Dom Colyear is sent to work in the Highlands town. He doesn't want to be there and the feelimg is mutual. His new Inspector wants him gone and the locals wonder why he's even there. But Don makes a go of things, striking up a food working relationship with rookie officer, Rowan Forbes.

This is a bit of a slow burner. We are quite a bit into the book before the main plotline starts, up to then, it's most.y character building. Don and Rowan form a great bond. There's also some flashbacks which are a bit confusing. The scenery is descriptivly written. The story is told from Don's point of view. If there is to be more books written aboutt Don and and his partner Rowan. I would read them.

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

Out in the Cold is the first instalment in the Sergeant Donald "Don” Colyear police procedural series, set in the fictional Scottish town of Stratharder, just north of the coastal fishing town of Oban in the Highlands. Thirty-three-year-old Sergeant Colyear has been promoted and transferred from his now untenable post in Glasgow to the remote town of Stratharder where the crime rate seems, at first glance, to be vastly lower. On his arrival at the station on his first day, he is shown around town by Constable Rowan Forbes, a young, friendly elfin girl. Staying at Hilda Brownhill’s home in the nearby town of Kirkmartin means it is only a short drive to work each day for Don. He is partnered up with Forbes and they begin to investigate the slew of crimes, mostly petty in nature, in the local area. But it doesn't take long for Don to realise that something isn't right in this town and that beneath the quiet, serene exterior lies sinister secrets and a dangerous pact of silence held by residents. Can Don use his famed gut instinct to get to the bottom of the strange and overwhelming level of crime, the spate of disappearances of young teenagers, a possible murder and a string of reports made about ongoing vandalism, that descends upon Stratharder?

This is a compulsive, slow-burn procedural with an action-packed, complex plot, which features several intermingling threads, and there's never a dull moment as Johnstone keeps you on your toes. I will say that it takes a little while to get used to the format of the story as the timeline shifts often without warning, which can be confusing initially, but it's well worth putting the effort in as this is a thoroughly enjoyable and convoluted thrill ride. Colyear’s interesting backstory is fed to the reader in digestible chunks throughout so as not to overwhelm and it works well; I was fascinated with the situation he found himself in and it was a refreshingly original personal story. The fact that it's told exclusively from Don’s perspective allows you to become more immersed in the goings-on, and in all honesty, if both the timeline and the point of view were both frequently changing I think it would've probably bombed. I loved the Scottish slang interspersings and the descriptions of the Highlands made me feel right at home in a comforting way. This is a high-octane, edge of your seat read made all the more authentic by the author being a former police officer. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Allison & Busby for an ARC.

Amazing! Perfect mystery book to settle down with during these cole autumn evenings. I loved learning of Don's history and I always believe that git instinct is something that should be followed. Police corruption, murder, abduction and deceit. Just the best thriller.

The beginning of the book was interesting but I really struggled. The working relationship between Rowan and Don connected well with witty and clever dialogue but I still couldn't connect with the characters or the story. Other readers may find Stuart's type of writing addictive, funny and inspiring but for me, the story didn't flow and chapters jumped about so much I was going to give up, and half way through I did! Other readers may find the storyline absorbing but, for me, it did not hit the spot!

I give this a 3 star rate.

I WANT TO THANK NERGALLEY FOR THE OPPORTUNITY OF READING AN ADVANCED COPY OF THIS BOOK

Don Colyear figured policing would be quieter in Stratharder than in Glasgow. He didn't figure on the fact that there's a subtle crime wave going on - one that's been around for a long time. A murder brings out a whole set of secrets (no spoilers from me). His new partner- Rowan- is a rookie. That makes for some tough times but also for some smart dialogue. Don's backstory spools out slowly in this novel that moves back and forth in time (be prepared to occasionally be a bit confused). The characters are good and I liked the setting. It does start off slowly but stick with it. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For fans of Scottish procedurals.

A well written police procedural with some good character building and description of Scotland. The backstory of the protagonist is introduced in different parts seamlessly keeping to the context. The main plot actually starts quite late in the story and without proper editing the sudden change of scenarios makes it confusing, which I hope would not be the case in the final product. If this is a series, I would be looking forward to it.

I did not like this book. It was confusing to read and bounced back and forth. I did not think the main character was strong and the story line lacked a punch to it.