Six years ago, Beata Dabrowski arranged to meet her lover in Glasgow and was never seen again. There were no leads. . . until Another great story, from this author, which is hard to put down. Although part of a series it works well as a stand-alone novel. It’s got great characters, a pulsing pace and a great ending.

The Devil you know is a totally gripping story right from the first chapter until you hurtle gasping for breath at the final chapter .DS Craigie and his wonderful Team of great characters are back again and involved with the infamous Hardie gang. A brilliant read as usual clever story line full of excitement .I look forward to reading the next book in the series .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC.

With thanks to the author, publishers HQ Digital, and NetGalley for providing me with a DRC of this book in exchange for my honest review. Number 5 in the DS Max Craigie series, and another 5* read! Having read the previous four installments in this series and given them all 5* ratings, I had really high hopes for this book, and I am happy to say that I was not disappointed. This was a thoroughly enjoyable return to the world of Max, Janie, Ross and Barney, once again joining forces to battle corruption in police Scotland. There is no need to have read any of the earlier works though, this book could be enjoyed equally well as a standalone read by someone not familiar with the series. Even though the team is small, the character of each one is well fleshed out and each one brings their own unique set of skills to the whole, while the plot is as intricate and expertly-woven as it has been consistently throughout this series. As in those previous books though, it is the dialog that really takes this book to the next level. I don’t know if there is a better author out there at writing dialog in this sort of context, mixing the serious and professional descriptions of the active investigation with jokes and office banter. In particular, Ross Fraser has to be one of the funniest characters I’ve come across, and had me laughing out loud on more than one occasion! I’m delighted to see that a sixth installment is due to land in 2025, and cannot wait to get my hands on it!

I haven’t met a Neil Lancaster book yet that didn’t hook me in quickly and keep me page turning till the very end! DS Max Craigie has been specifically named by Davie Hardie, currently in a high security prison, as ‘not to be involved’ in the information he is willing to give to the police in order to shorten his sentence and get himself moved to a prison where the inmates are given more privileges. He claims he knows where the body of a young polish woman has been dumped after she became a missing person years earlier and agrees to show the police exactly where she has been deposited. Max Craigie is a nemesis for the Hardie family and is immediately suspicious. Although excluded from the first expedition to find Beatta’s body, it’s not long before Max and his team is involved and once again it seems there is corruption within the police ranks. I cannot praise Neil Lancaster’s books too highly. I get restless for the next one and he simply never fails to deliver. I love the use of the Scottish dialect and humour, and find myself smiling at words I haven’t heard since I left my homeland many moons ago. Each book in this series gives us more insight into the members of this small team and their private lives - I love the latest revelation about Max’s life and look forward to reading more about it in the next book! Please write quickly Mr Lancaster!! If this is your first Max Craigie experience (you lucky person!!) it’s perfectly possible to read this as a standalone, However, I’ll be more than surprised if you aren’t motivated to go back to book 1 and read the entire series! Five stars is just not enough for this book!

Neil brings yet another gripping, cutthroat story to life in The Devil You Know. In this book Neil ramps up the tension and throws us mere readers several curveballs to get our heads around, and he does it spectacularly well. Brilliantly plotted, with a hefty dose of the humour of Ross to give us a laugh at just the right moment. The Devil You Know is an absolute must for crime fiction fans.