A great crime thriller in the first of its series

An excellent police procedural filled with lies, secrets, twists, and corruption and the detective that doesn’t play by the rules but gets his job done by other means

Detective has his own demons but this really made the story come to life

Thank you Netgalley and Storm Publishing

The first time I have read this Author but I enjoyed the style of writing. A solid four star read. Great premise. Good characters. Page turner. Plenty of suspense to keep me guessing Would definitely read the next novel. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

Blood Runs Deep is a crime mystery centred around Malkie’s case involving a dangerous suspect with PTSD. Although the evidence is stacked against the veteran, Malkie doesn’t believe he did it. But can the detective work out who did?

I enjoyed it, though it took me a while to read it. It wasn’t quite the page turner I’d expected it to be. I found I got behind Malkie more through my sympathy for Callahan, than any endearment towards Malkie himself. I liked the inner thoughts throughout and the story did keep me guessing, which was good. There were some convincing action scenes, that were tense and exciting and the writing style was easy to read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for my advanced copy.

Blood soaked police thriller that I found compelling! DS Mankie McCulloch is anew character in the genre who is so wracked with personal guilt after his mother’s tragic death he can’t function until he’s dragged against his wishes into the investigation of what appears to be a road accident but of course all is not what it seems. Full of quite horrific individuals from gangsters to a dodgy police DI the action never relents and it will be interesting to see what the future holds for this different copper!

Three and a half stars.

D.S. Malkie McCulloch has been on leave for several months after the death of his mother in a house fire. He feels unbearably guilty and has been warned about his behaviour by his bosses in relation to Jake Fielding and his son Liam, a local crime family. His first call back on the job is a hit and run, although his superiors suggest it is no more than that Malkie isn't convinced and based on the tyre marks on the road suspects he was deliberately targeted.

Piecing together the evidence, it seems as though a former soldier suffering with PTSD is responsible as the car involved in the incident, one of the Fielding's mini cabs, was found parked outside his cottage on the Fielding's estate. However, Liam also took out one of the mini cabs - who was responsible and why?

This was a gritty, sometimes graphic, mystery (somewhat more gritty than I normally like). Malkie is a tortured soul who makes bad choice after bad choice. His long-suffering partner DCI Steph Lang is running out of patience and his boss DI McLeish is just itching to kick him out of the force. It felt as though this was midway through a series because there was so much backstory, although I understand that this is the author's first novel.

Overall, I enjoyed the plot, some aspects I suspected quite early on, although others were unexpected, I would be interested to see where this series leads.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

An excellent police procedural with an engaging plot and relatable characters.
There is a lot of emphasis on the detective's back story which explains a lot but this only enhances the story.

This book was difficult to like. I had trouble relating to any of the characters. I found Malkie's self-pity tedious and the internal dialogue a bit too much. The story was too extreme in terms of violence, I had trouble following the story making it hard for me to keep going with the reading. If you enjoy Scottish detective stories, this book may interest you. However, it did not appeal to me personally.

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for the eARC.

A hit and run sees Livingstone detective DS Malkie McCulloch called back from leave. After demotion and personal loss. McCulloch is damaged and fragile. The obvious suspect is an ex-army associate of a local crime family. But does it all seem to easy?

McCulloch investigates and finds there is more to the story than meets the eye. But his inept work and inability to work with others inevitably leads him into trouble. Meanwhile ex soldier Callahan, suffering from PTSD and not certain if he did commit the crime, goes on the run looking for answers.

Blood Runs Deep is a difficult novel to like. There is a lot of violence, some rather extreme, and the characters are all either criminals or deeply flawed. McCulloch may have good intentions but his methods leave the reader cold.

A man is lying badly injured in the road after a hit and run. DS Malkie McCulloch is called out to investigate.
His superior maintains that it is a Road Traffic Accident, but Malkie feels that it was no accident.

His investigation leads him to a man who has untreated PTSD, who has frequent episodes of extreme rage, as he has stopped his medication. He works for a notorious criminal family. Someone in the police force is protecting the family, and Malkie will find out who and why.

I did enjoy the book. The self pity that Malkie had for himself was tedious though.
I really felt bad for Callahan, as the men who are sent
to fight wars that do not really concern them, are forgotten and neglected when they come home scarred.

The story is very complex, and most of the characters are flawed and damaged in some way.
Malkie is lucky that he has Steph to dig him out of trouble, as he doesn't think before he acts.

I would like to read another book in this series, and hope that Malkie comes to terms with his mother's death and stops going against orders, and concentrates on police work.

Thanks to Netgalley and Storm Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

The first in a new series featuring recently demoted DS Malkie McCulloch. Having been on 6 months leave he is preparing to return to work but is still bedevilled by his own personal demons. However the evening before his return he is called to an RTA where a man has been seriously injured in a hit and run. Being back with his colleague and partner DC Stephanie Lang is his own bright beacon. A well written debut novel with a good plot and interesting characters.

Briefly, the car is quickly found and the driver appears to be an ex soldier suffering from PTSD. However Malkie has doubts he was the driver but is quickly told by his odious boss to treat it as an accident. Malkie of course does his own thing and ignoring his bosses demands and in his own uncouth manner starts digging out the story behind the headlines. He is soon drawn into a dangerous world with which he is very familiar, his nemesis, crime family the Fielding’s.

Not your normal police procedural but a very good thriller, gruesome in parts, where disturbing questions are raised about the treatment of ex servicemen once they leave service. Malkie is clearly a damaged man and it’s good that he has Steph to support him. A good start to a gritty Scottish police procedural series, very clever and compelling read.

As a debut novel, this is a really good opener. A police procedural based in Livingston, Scotland, we have a whole range of interesting characters, from Callaghan, a veteran with PTSD that he refuses to acknowledge, or get treatment for; a gangland family at odds with each other as well as everyone else; and a damaged Detective, who is still trying to deal with his own trauma. Malkie has been demoted to a Detective Sergeant after his alleged inept handling of an incident in a nightclub, but who is also dealing with his injuries and survivors guilt after a fatal fire at his parents’ home. Add to this a very complex criminal investigation and you have a really good book. There are a couple of characters who feel a bit over the top, but the handling and comments about the lack of help given to Veterans when they leave, or are pushed out of the Services is very insightful. A really good start to this authors published writing career, and I hope his next book is as well done.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A great start to a new crime series. Interesting that Livingston was the main location for the book rather than the usual nearby Edinburgh.

As far as characters go, it took a wee bit to get used to Malkie but once you got the backstory, it then started to make more sense why his character behave as such. The secondary characters were enjoyable too, even the baddies!

Storyline wise, the more you read the more you got hooked into it trying to work out the truth over what happened.

Looking forward to reading more in this series as it’s released.

3.5 ⭐

Quite the one, when you like the "crazy" possibly bad guy as much as you do the main character.

There's a lot of damaged people in this book, and that makes them interesting.
It's a very good start to a series of what , if its like this one, will be a cop working by his own rules, a bit of gore, tons of action and a dependable sidekick.
Very enjoyable.

Complex police procedural filled with secrets, lies, hidden agendas, and corruption with red herrings everywhere - and one cop who just refuses to play by the rules. Can't help but root for him all the way. Solid detective mystery with a strong cast and good mix of personal and professional.

Thank you NetGalley and Storm for my opportunity to read and review this book.

Blood Runs Deep is book 1 of DS Malkie McCulloch. Malkie has been medically signed off from work for 6 months following a house fire, which killed his Mum and severely injured his Dad. Malkie with his long suffering partner DC Steph Lang are called in to investigate a RTC incident, where a man has brutally injured in a hit and run. This is the start of story, which is fast paced, full of twists and turns with few clues as to why this leads to a final surprising conclusion. I look forward to book2.

Blood Runs Deep Book 1 of DS Malkie McCulloch is the first book in this new Scottish crime thriller series. DS McCulloch, as described, is a complex detective with demons of his own who will risk everything to protect the innocent.

The descriptions are a bit gory. And sometimes, the descriptions of the locale or scenes and backstory pulled me away from the story. A paragraph or two would suffice, but 3 or more pages is a bit much.

I did like Steph; I felt she was a character I could connect with.

The story begins with a man being struck by a hit-and-run driver. Tire marks suggest it was no accident. As the man fights for every breath, they might still get their wish.

Grappling with the demons he thought he could leave behind after months away on enforced leave, D.S. Malkie McCulloch resists pressure from his superiors to pass the case on to the road policing unit, convinced that whoever was behind the wheel will be waiting for the chance to finish the job.

With the help of his partner, DCI Steph Lang, Malkie uncovers evidence that leads him to a former soldier suffering from PTSD.

The story involves a complex web of family ties, deception, and greed, which reveal the secrets at the heart of the case.

I would recommend this book and will check out more books by this author.

#BloodRunsDeep #NetGalley @Stormbooks_co

The evening before DS Malcolm ‘Malkie’ McCulloch is due to return to duties after an extended “medical” leave, he is called out to a hit and run RTA. The crime scene is not pleasant, and the victim is in a bad way. Although far from capable, with demons and inadequacies of his own, Malkie still feels there is something off about the accident and he and his trusty sidekick, DC Steph Lang, she of the stern stare and Krav Maga aficionado, are soon on the trail of the car. Discovering it belongs to the cab firm owned by the ferocious Fielding family, Malkie’s nemesis, Steph makes him promise to behave and play by the book. The car is on the Fielding grounds, but outside the small house of Walter Callaghan, a henchman of the Fieldings, who is ex military, suffering from PTSD, with The Dog continually snapping at his heels.

Escaping and on the run from the detectives, Walter goes on a rampage searching for the elusive Muzzle.

If you like blood and gore, deeply disturbed characters (and that’s just the police officers), and a totally inept detective who is both rogue and risky, with a big heart and little brain, this is the book for you. The one redeeming character is Steph who is “nice”. Ineffective but nice.

Thank you NetGalley and Storm.

Blood runs deep is a crime thriller novel by Doug Sinclair.
I really enjoyed this absolute page turner. It had me hooked from the very first page and I kept reading until the end as I wanted to know what happened. It had enough twists and turns to keep me interested and guessing until the end. A very enjoyable novel that I highly recommend.
🎄 Thank you to Storm publishing and netgalley for my arc ebook copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.