Oustanding book yet again.

The realism in the plot really stands out. The high tension and drama keep you flying through. Once I started I did not want to put it down.

I absolutely love these main characters. I laughed out loud at Ross a couple of times.

Loved it and cannot wait for book 3.

I can't recommend this series highly enough.

This is a well done and very atmospheric Scottish procedural with- know in advance- a pretty high body count. DS Max Craigie, DI Ross Fraser and DC Janie find themselves looking at a series of seemingly unrelated events but then realize that this is all about control of narcotics importation and distribution in Scotland. It's hard to describe but fans of this genre know that there are good guys, bad guys, and some twists. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It's the second in a series and I missed the first but it was fine as a standalone.

The second in my new favourite crime series did not disappoint. Had me gripped and I can’t wait for more.

Another cracker from Neil Lancaster. I really enjoyed his 1st book and this one didn't disappoint either. This book can be read as part of the series but always works as a stand alone.
Another complex police investigation with DS Max Craigie, DC Janie Calder and DI Ross Fraser. With their newly expanding team of quirky and interesting characters, this was a great read. I loved returning to Scotland and the descriptive nature of the place. Slow build up that continues on a faster pace and great build up to an unexpected ending which I loved. Can't wait for the next book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers HQ for an Arc in exchange for an honest opinion

As this is only book 2 in the series, I decided to go back and read the previous one first which was certainly helpful as it gave me greater insight into the main characters. That being said, it reads well as a standalone too as that it what my husband did. Lots going on in the remote Scottish countryside with plenty of corrupt people still in high office in the various government and civil service departments. Great descriptive writing and lots of pace in the book. This is turning into a very good crime series. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC to review.

I sort of knew after the first one that this may be a good book. Well I was not wrong, it’s a little cracker. It’s one of those that starts of slowly then ramps up and up to an ending I just didn’t see coming. Highly recommended.

Although I had clearly missed the backstory from the first book in the series, the author brought newbies up to speed pretty quickly.

This Scottish police procedural is competently handled, with good differentiation between characters and enjoyable banter. Tension is built nicely and gradually ratchets up to a satisfying dénouement.

Personally, I would probably have engaged slightly more if the plot didn’t centre around drugs and cartels but still an enjoyable and pacy story well told.

With thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher, HQ Stories for an arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Having already read the first book in the series I was pleased to be offered the chance to review book 2.
This second book speeds along at the same fast, breathless paste as the first. In Max Craigie we have a supercharged Rebus, a hero for the modern-day. Corrupt senior police are getting involved in the drug trade in Scotland and Max is on their trail. The book is excellently plotted without going over the top. I can recommend this to all readers of modern police procedurals and thrillers.

Loved book 1 so was excited to read book 2 in the DS Mike Craigie Scottish Crime Thriller series; whilst it would help to read Book 1 for context this can be read as a stand alone story as the pertinent points are covered. The author describes this as a ripper of a story and it really is the best way to describe it. I could make a long list of appropriate superlatives but here’s just three brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! Max, Janie and Ross work to uncover police corruption, a thankless task at the best of times.

Briefly, a fisherman disappears in a loch in Scotland and shortly afterwards a man jumps off a bridge in Glasgow. A friend of Craigie is the last person to speak to the jumper but then the friend apparently commits suicide. Craigie starts investigating and finds links between the two suicides but not the reasons why. More bodies pile up and suddenly Craigie finds himself pitted against an old enemy. Helped by his colleagues and friends Janie and Ross he faces a race against time to bring a major drug smuggling operation to a halt.

This was a real page turner! Fast paced, great banter, more action and suspense than a James Bond film and fabulous storyline; a worthy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is going to be quite a short review! If you like excellent crime/police tales this is most definitely a book you will enjoy. I almost read it in one sitting but had to sleep, just like when I read Dead Man’s Grave (the first volume starring DS Craigie). For me, this book is a benchmark and I hope Neil Lancaster manages to find some other crimes for DS Craigie to get entangled with - please.

Detective sergeant Max Craigie is part of an exclusive team of three that reports to the Chief Constable in the Glasgow area of Scotland, on internal corruption.
When a policeman known to Max has supposedly committed suicide, following witnessing the suicide of a crime agency employee. Max and his boss detective inspector Ross Fraser and the third team member detective constable Jane Calder, start to investigate what is behind the suicides.
Max arrested the gang boss Tam Hardie who is now in prison in HMP Edinburgh. Hardie's drug pipeline is now under threat from a Liverpool gang. However someone is targetting some of the gang members. Hardie meanwhile dreams of escaping and joining his family in Northern Cyprus, but not before he has killed Max!
Their investigations reveal two people in one of the crime authorities who are targetting the Liverpool gang, but also realise that someone in authority is leaking information to the rogue police.
A very involved story which keeps your interest. The author has two series in publication currently. Recommended.

This is the second book in the series although please note it will work as a stand-alone as there are explanations of pertinent points.
It was great to be back in Scotland for another complex police investigation with DS Max Craigie, DC Janie Calder and DI Ross Fraser and their newly expanding team, full of interesting, quirky characters. Think Scottish ‘Line of Duty’.
As with the first book in the series, we seem the team working on crimes which just don’t quite ‘fit’ the result they have been given, characters in authority who may not be all they seem and blocks at every turn. The descriptions of Scotland were fabulous (for me helped by the fact that my last holiday was touring the NC500) along with the weather which added to the atmospheric and tense action throughout the book.
The story is well-told and runs at a great pace, gripping the reader throughout. I found myself tense and anxious at several points, especially when the action was near Nutmeg, the gorgeous dog who lives with Max.
The plot twisted and turned unpredictably as the investigation unraveled. It was challenging to see where the story would end.
I recommend this read and look forward to more investigations with ‘the team’.

In this story, Max, Janie and Ross have to investigate corruption within the police force.

With two ‘suicides’, Max knows there is more going on than meets the eye.

This was a great read. The characters are solid and I enjoy the relationship between them, as much as they torment & banter with each other, they all have each other’s backs.

With fabulous descriptive writing from the author, you can visualise the settings. This is a series to look out for.

My thanks to HQ Digital and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

This starts with a police officer spotting a ‘jumper’ on the Erskine Bridge and trying unsuccessfully to stop him. Before jumping he alluded to pressure on him and police corruption. The story takes us on a complex police investigation involving drug smuggling and corruption. Written by a former police officer it is a great police procedural, but it is more than that. The characters are interesting, funny, true to life. It was a real page tuner for me.

DS Max Cragie returns with the second of the series, another great book.
A young man jumps to his death from a bridge in Glasgow telling PC Hamish he has to jump and the police are corrupt. After telling his friend Max about the case Hamish is found dead and his notes on the case have disappeared.
Max and his team start to investigate police corruption with drug trafficking thrown in.

Love the police characters and the banter between them was great.
Can`t wait to read more of the series.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Posted to Goodreads

DS Max Craigie knows there is a link between a missing fisherman and the man who jumped from a bridge in Glasgow but he can’t work out what the full story is. It’s a race to progress the case before there are more casualties but someone is one step ahead and Max starts to wonder who he can trust. Events start to spiral out of control and get too close to home leaving Max with a tough decision on his hands.

A page turner that I genuinely couldn’t put down. Max Craigie is flawed but likeable with a strong sense of duty and loyalty to his friends. The supporting characters are well drawn and there were plenty of twists and turns and to keep the story interesting. I’d highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys police crime drama.

One of the best police procedurals I have read in a long time. I was gripped this is Scottish Noir on speed. This book has everything. A fantastic plot, great characters, hilarious banter and one liners and more action,tension and suspense than a spy movie. I could not put this book down!!!!! This deserves more than five stars and a MUST READ. Loved loved it!!!!!
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

This is a fast=paced novel packed full of action, twists and turns. It also has the added edge of being written by an author who has extensive policing experience, so the insights offered into the job are unrivalled across much of crime fiction. It provides this in a way that is accessible to the reader with no inside knowledge, and when I was reading the book, I actually felt as though I was part of the team.

The storyline revolves around gangs vying for one anothers' lucrative drugs markets, and has the team watching their backs while they suspect corruption from within their own ranks.

While that may sound complicated, the book is so well written, there's no way you're going to be able to put it down until you've read to the very end!

This is the second in the series; it is the first one I have read.

In this novel of struggle for control of the drug market, the bodies pile up. D.S. Max Craigie and his team investigate, finding not only gangsters, but crooked police and other law officers.

I’m not sure if this novel truly qualifies as Tartan Noir, but it is certainly hard boiled, atmospheric, and fast paced. I liked it and look forward to the next in the series.

Although having read the first in the series probably would have given me further background on these well developed characters, The Blood Tide worked well as a standalone

The book starts with the story of an experienced police officer, PC Hamish Beatie trying to talk down a man who’s so terrified, he feels his only option is to commit suicide by jumping from the Erskine Bridge. DS Max Craigie gets involved when Hamish, who is on old friend, contacts him to raise his concerns of potential corruption at a high level. The story gets darker with a several key players involved in a drugs drop, getting killed.