Pay Back The Devil is the latest novel, the twelfth novel in the dark, crime series, starring Katie Maguire, a Cork guard (police officer). While this is a long running series, you can read the novels as a standalone, but this will spoil the events of the previous novels so I fully recommend that you find some time, make up some coffee and dive into the increasingly dark world of Maguire's Cork.
Now, there are many police procedural novels, what separates the work of Masterton from others? Well, the Katie Maguire series certainly walks on the gorier side of the police procedural with both very chilling crimes and levels of violence that are disturbing. That's not a negative, the series is ideal for those who enjoy their crime with a healthy side of horror. And Masterson writes factually, not drawing out the gore but simply describing the scene and moving on.
I enjoyed the pacing of this story and also the setting as I was able to visualise many of the locations. Also, the mix of Irish within conversations in commonplace in many communities and I loved to see the language used within the stories.

Katie Maguire is back with a bang - quite literally! Anyone who has read any of the previous eleven books will know that this author doesn’t hold back on the gore and violence, with this new, and eagerly awaited instalment being no different. That said, the author writes these parts succinctly, he describes the devastation and then moves on with the tale. This book starts with Katie being investigated following the outcome of her last case, and therefore suspended from active duty, and this is the case for a large portion of the book. Regardless of her suspension, Katie continues to be involved in police investigations, albeit from the outskirts. A lot of things happen in Cork whilst she is on suspension, and I found at times, the pace slowed right down, so I was keen for her to be reinstated. Once this happens, the pace picks back up, and the plot twists come quickly.

Katie Maguire is back and well worth the wait!! As always gripping with twists and turns. Two people are killed in what is thought to be a gas explosion in Cork, but it soon becomes apparent that this is not the case and is terror related, and does the force have a leak? Time will tell. Graham Masterton has given us yet another brilliant police procedural book that is hard to put done once you start and I urge you to start!!!! If you have never read a Katie Maguire this is the one to get you hooked.

I love this series and I could not put it down. What a ride

Thank you for the opportunity to review

An explosion in a house in inner-city Cork sends shock waves through the community. Two people are killed in the blast and, at first, their deaths are believed to be the tragic result of a gas leak - but the victims' pasts suggest otherwise.

This is another well written book by Graham Masterton. It’s just one of those hard-to-put-down stories. It flows quickly and has lots of unexpected twists in it. I've read quite a few of his earlier books in this series and they never fail to entertain. This one is no exception.

Set in Cork, there’s plenty of intrigue and the local dialect leaps off the pages. Suspended DS Katie Maguire is itching to get back to work but keeps herself involved in the meantime. A bombing, initially thought to be the result of a gas leak, turns out to be something rather more sinister. A group descended from IRA bombers is being targeted. It soon becomes clear that crucial information is leaking out, but from whom?

The narrative ties you in deeper with each turn of the page making this a novel that you can’t easily read between train stops. Maguire herself is a complex being. Seeking solace and empathy but often rough around the edges and hard to connect to. No problems in making a connection to this book though; a fierce read with a plot that feels topical and plausible.

"Pay Back the Devil' by Graham Masterton is the twelfth instalment of his DS Katie Maguire series but can be read as a stand alone.

DS Maguire is currently suspended pending outcome of an investigation, but that does not stop her taking an action involvement in the case of the apparent bombings of descendants to the Dripsey Dozen. Someone appears out for revenge but the lead in the investigation does not want to listen to DS Maguire.

This book immediately pulls you into the investigation into these gruesome crimes and the characters are visual and you want to keep reading to find out what happens to the characters.

DS Katie Maguire is a great character and you can see why the series has been going on for so long.

The detail is exact and the details f the bombings are quite gruesome so it is not for the light hearted.

There are other plots running as well as the main plot but this adds to the tension in the book and supplement the main story well.

A definite page turner and highly recommended.

Thanks to the author and publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

This has made me realise that A) I fricking love Katie Maguire and B) how behind I am in the series, which I will be rectifying asap. If you haven’t started this series, it can be read as a standalone..

DS Katie Maguire is such a fantastic character and I especially enjoyed reading about her being in the thick of it despite her suspension. This also showed the dynamics she has with her team, with them keeping her involved/up to date.

The impact of the bombings is very detailed and he does not hold back on the violence/devastation the bombs cause on a person, which I personally loved.
As well as the bombings, there are other storylines (how bad did I feel for finding Kyna annoying with her whitling on about ruining Katie’s life 😬) this other storylines are equally as gory!!

I cannot shout about or recommend this book enough!