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Neil Lancaster is a former Military Police officer and Metropolitan Police detective, and so, as a writer of police procedurals myself, I was excited to read something by somebody who really knows what he is talking about!
Dead Man's Grave is the first in a new series starring DS Max Cragie, a former Metropolitan Police detective who relocates from London to Scotland, after an armed operation goes wrong.
The book starts with the discovery of a grave by the head of one of Scotland's most notorious crime families, inscribed with the ominous words 'This Grave Can Never Be Opened' . The murder of the crime boss uncovers a blood feud dating back to the 1890s and leads to the unmasking of a corruption conspiracy at the heart of Police Scotland.

As you'd expect from a man with Lancaster's experience, the book is packed with authentic police procedure, but more importantly, it's a damned good read! The plot is complex, with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. Several times throughout the book, the story seems to be heading for a conclusion, but Lancaster throws in a sudden swerve that takes the story off in a different direction, until it finally reaches an explosive and satisfying conclusion. 
From the outset, the characters leap off the page; from Cragie's gloriously foul-mouthed boss DI Ross Fraser, to the sparky DC Janie Calder, they are all expertly realised. Cragie and Calder make for a compelling duo, with just enough revealed about their backstory to hint that the series has legs.


In the interests of disclosure, Neil and I share the same publisher, which in part is how I obtained this advanced reader's copy. But as I have always   made clear, books only appear on this blog if I have genuinely enjoyed them and think others will also.
So I have no hesitation in making this a #RecommendedRead.


Dead Man's Grave is available for pre-order from HQ Stories, and is published in July 2021. 

Welcome to a first for this blog, a review of an entire series.

I first came across Rachel Lynch's DI Kelly Porter in the summer of 2019, when her publisher sent me an early copy of the third book, Dead End. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and was more than happy to let a quote of mine be used on the cover blurb. A few months later, the convenor of my local Crime Writers' Association chapter announced that we would have a new member joining us for our semi-regular lunch-time gatherings. Guess who turned up the following Sunday!

Since then, Rachel has written a further five books, a work-rate that puts many of us to shame!
Fast-forward to the end of 2020 and the wonderful folks who run the UK Crime Book Club Facebook page asked if I would like to do a live 'in conversation with'  interview. And if I did, who would I like to speak to? The decision took seconds, and I fired off a quick Facebook message to Rachel. Regardless of her response, I happened to be standing outside a small bookshop in Bakewell (quite literally the only time I had been out in public since March!), and it gave me the perfect excuse to march in and buy her whole back catalogue with a view to binge-reading them before our conversation.

The conversation took place on Friday 12th of February and is archived on both the UK Crime Book Club Facebook page and YouTube.

Reading the whole series back-to-back has been an absolute pleasure! As a writer of police procedurals myself, I know how difficult it can be to tread the fine-line between accuracy and the need to tell a good story, and Rachel nails it.
The stories encompass a range of different types of crime and societal issues including knife crime and teenage drug use, illegal immigation and people trafficking and a cracking messed-in-the-head serial killer! Rachel also touches on more unusual fare - the sixth in the series, Blood Rites explores ancient religions and cults. Unlike some authors, she resists the urge to over-sensationalise and treats these alternate beliefs with respect, and I came away feeling that I had learnt something genuinely interesting. Some of the themes (and antagonists) explored in earlier books are revisited later, which is extremely satisfying.

The books are set in the lake district, an area Rachel knows intimately and whilst the alarmingly regular murders, and hidden secrets are probably not entirely to the Cumbria Tourist Information Office's taste, I think they are more than compensated for by her clear love of the area. DI Kelly Porter is a keen runner and outdoorsperson, and Rachel's descriptions of this breath-taking National Park, through all its varied seasons, remind me of the wonderful visits I have made there. I think that readers of her books who are unfamiliar with the area will be entranced, and may contemplate a future holiday there.

Porter is a compelling character; dogged and determined, she follows a really satisfying arc over the course of the books. Her personal life is well mapped-out, and whilst it has enough drama to keep readers hooked and keen to catch-up with her in the next book, she isn't a dark, depressed alcoholic.
In many ways, I find this comforting; my own DCI Warren Jones isn't plagued by as many demons as some of his fictional peers, and Rachel has proven that you can write dark stories without the need for a relentlessly dark central protagonist.

There are many excellent crime series out there, and this is up with the best of them. And with its beautiful backdrops, complex and likeable central character, and satisfyingly complex plots, this is one that is crying out for TV. The success of Vera, DCI Banks and Shetland have shown that there is a big appetite for stories such as these. Perfect fodder for Sunday evening on ITV1!

I highly recommend this whole series!

Please feel free to share your thoughts here or on social media.

Coming February 2021
Available to pre-order from Amazon.

One of the great priviliges of being a writer, is that you often get sent early copies of yet-to-be-published books, to see what you think.

Karin Nordin's debut thriller is set in Sweden and I am delighted that it is the first outing for the gloriously troubled Detective Kjeld Nygaard. I really do look forward to seeing where she takes him and his side-kick Esme in years to come.

The story centres around the return home of Kjeld Nygaard to the tiny Swedish mining town of Varsund that he escaped years before. His father, Stenar, leaves a rambling, incoherent message on Nygaard's phone, claiming he's witnessed a murder. Having not spoken to his father in many years, Nygaard is sufficiently concerned to take advantage of his temporary suspension (imposed after his last case went catastrophically wrong), to drive up north to investigate.

Arriving, he is confronted by a father suffering from Alzheimer's, still obsessed with the shed-full of ravens he tends to daily, and no evidence that he didn't imagine the whole episode. With the relationship between the two estranged men hardly improved by Stenar's confusion, and frequent angry outbursts, Nygaard wants nothing more than to escape back to his life - such as it is - in Gothenburg.

And then he discovers a human tooth in the raven's barn...

This is classic Scandi-Noir, the story set against the frigid, icy weather, and endless hours of darkness that make such tales so atmospheric. Nygaard is a well-rounded character with many flaws and a complicated relationship with his family. His father's deteriorating mental condition is dealt with honestly and at times brutally, and the toll on his loved-ones described with sympathy and compassion. The old man's obsession with his ravens is integral to the story and adds another disturbing layer; there's something especially creepy about corvids that you just don't get with a budgie!

The investigation has more than enough intrigue and twists to make it a satisfying and compelling read, and whilst it is fully resolved, leaves enough should the author choose to return to that setting.

As to the future? Well it is the first in a series, and Nordin has carefully built a cast of characters that will work even if Nygaard doesn't return to Varsund for a couple of books. Throughout the novel, we are treated to hints at what actually happened to earn Nygaard his suspension, and I will be interested to see to what degree that features in later entries in the series. Aside from that, we are introduced to his partner, Esme and even though this isn't a traditional police procedural as such - given that he is working an investigation for personal reasons, well-outside his jursidiction - we see hints at how they work together.

Although this is the first in the series, it doesn't feel like it. It could almost be book three or four, and that's a very clever decision by Nordin. It leaves her options to look both forwards and backwards. I have no insight into the author's plans, but I look forward to seeing what comes next and I am excited that I was afforded the chance to join in right at the beginning!

Very highly recommended.

Today you are treated to a double-bill!
I've known Craig Robertson for a number of years and he is a generous and lovely man. A stalwart of the Scottish crimewriting scene, The Mirror says that "Robertson is doing for Glasgow what Rankin did for Edinburgh". High praise indeed.
But as always, these two books are listed here as they are damn good reads (which I have bought people for Christmas... shhh), not because Craig is a mate.

These are the two latest releases in Robertson's Glasgow-based DI Rachel Narey series. I like Robertson's writing as he always brings an original twist. As a writer of police procedurals myself, I know how hard it is to make a book stand out, and both of these distinguish themselves in a crowded field.

In The Photographer, a dawn raid by the police leads to the discovery of a chilling collection of photographs hidden under floorboards. The story has a nice balance of surprising twists with a growing sense of impending dread, with readers never sure what will come next. 
As always, the book has a strong supporting cast - both series regulars and new characters for this book, and each is written as an individual with their own strengths and foibles, with readers easily becoming invested in their fates. 

The next in the series Watch Him Die is another high-concept idea. The book opens in Los Angeles, with the apparently non-suspicious death of a man in his own home. However, closer inspection of the residence soon reveals something disturbing...
Back in Glasgow, Robertson's series regular, Rachel Nary is embroilled in a missing person case - she believes she knows who is responsible, and furthermore believes that he has killed her. 
These two seemingly unrelated cases, thousands of miles apart, become linked when the detectives in California discover a live internet feed broadcasting the slow and painful death of another victim...
I love this book. The marrying together of these two disparate cases is both chilling and plausible, and the blending of the familiar world of DI Nary with the radically different culture of US law enforcement is handled skilfully.
In 'race against time' books, it can be difficult to engender a true sense of danger for the victims. We want our heroes to succeed, and we know that the writer is also rooting for them. Here, Robertson genuinely has you wondering 'will they or won't they'? From the outset, there is no foregone conclusion, and it really is a 'page-turner'.

I heartily recommend both of these books, and others by Craig Robertson. He deserves the respect that he receives from reviewers, readers and his peers. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for whatever he releases next.