*4.5 stars *
A missing person enquiry leads DS Max Craigie and DC Janie Calder to an ancient and abandoned burial ground, by the remains of an old chapel, located in a very remote spot in the Scottish Highlands. They discover a headstone with the inscription “This Grave Can Never Be Opened”!

The missing person in question is notorious gangster Tam Hardie, head of Scotland’s most powerful and ‘influential’ crime family - nothing happens without Hardie’s say so. Looks like someone did open the Grave though, as Tam Hardie’s decomposing body is discovered beneath the heavy slab of granite covering the grave, in what turns out to be a centuries old feud. One thing’s for certain, the Hardie family will not take this well, they already have connections to numerous murders, and someone murdering the head of their family will not be tolerated - retribution will be had!

Former soldier, (now DS) Max Craigie, was stationed at Helmand Province, Afghanistan, fighting the Taliban, and experienced some horrific and tragic events, so he has his demons to fight, not least the terrifying nightmares that leave him shaking with cold cloying sweats. However, he’ll need to dig really deep to tackle this investigation, that exposes corruption, which extends to senior officer level within the Scottish Police Service. This is corruption that involves the Hardie family, and certainly impacts the increasing body count in the investigation. The good guys are determined to bring down the Hardie family, but to do that, they need to bring down each and every dirty cop, who are feeding information to the Hardie’s and who are, in effect, derailing the whole investigation.

Though complex, this is a cracking start to this new series, a police procedural of exceptional quality, with an array of characters that fit their roles perfectly. Author, Neil Lancaster, deftly navigates this tense and tight plot, and the last few chapters had me reading at an ever increasing pace, such was its intensity. Highly recommended!

So Max Craigie is helping to rid the Scottish Police Force of corrupt cops whilst helping solve the murders involved in a bitter centuries old feud! It’s a good story, a little thin on the ground at times and I could have done with a few less ‘mates’ and ‘guvnors’ but I was gripped to the end and pleased with the outcome!

A very well thought out plot that grabs you pretty quickly and doesn't let go. I stayed up far too late reading this and suffered on a daily basis until I was finished.

We start off the a murder of the head of Scotlands most powerful crime family. His body dumped in a remote cemetery.
Detectives Max and Janie arrive in the small town where soon they find that everyone has a secret to hide and that this is part of a feud between two families that goes back centuries.

The bodies soon begin to pile up and Max and Janie, discover corruption at the heart of Police Scotland.
Can they trust any of their colleagues and what will this case cost them?

I found this a totally gripping thriller. My favourite genre is a police procedural and this swept me along at a breathtaking pace with many twists. A new author to me but also a new series, set in the beautiful Scottish countryside starring DS Max Craigie and DC Janie Calder. Fighting police corruption at the highest level seemed like fighting against the tide with setbacks from organised crime and from the authority itself. It feels authentic too; real Line of Duty stuff! I shall look forward to the next book in the series.

What would you do if you came upon a grave with a marker
"Never To Be Opened" ?
A feud that has been going on since the 1800's. When the head of a crime family goes missing Max and Janie step into action solving the case but Max thinks there is more to the case.
As the story unfolds people start dropping like flies. Max is put on suspension but that doesn't stop him from further investigating putting his and Janie's life in danger.
Police corruption in Scotland Yard and beyond.
Dead Man's Grave is the beginning of a new series. Beautiful detail of Scotland. Characters are flawless.
I had no problem interpretating the language. I did get confused at times during a conversation. He and she speaking in the same paragraph. Guess it's just different in Scotland.
Can't wait for next installment!
Thank you Net Galley and the author for a digital copy. Read and reviewed voluntarily and the opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own

This is the first book I have read by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Set in Scotland DS Max Craigie and his DC Janie Calder face a gruesome discovery in a remote grave yard. They find the body of the head of a Scottish Crime family who obviously didn't die of natural causes. The discovery sets off a chain of events that leads to wide spread corruption in Scottish Police, it is of the highest level and they don't know who to trust. The story is well written and I will certainly be looking out for more from Neil Lancaster

Thank you for the opportunity to read a preview of this book. This was packed full of drama and tension.
The leader of a major crime family is found dead and the police fear this will lead to retribution and power struggles across the city
DS Max Craigie is recently transferred from London and initially investgates. However, after an order from above to drop any further enquiries, Max starts his own investigation. But with corruption evident throughout the force, who can he trust?
A great read, although I never really understood why the initial crime, upon which the story is focused, was committed.

What do you do when you begin to doubt the honesty of those you work with? DS Max Craigie, recently transferred from the MET to Police Scotland, and tasked with finding Tam Hardie, the missing head of a notorious crime family, is about to find out.

Processing a murder scene in middle of nowhere is never easy, but with Max Craigie and partner DC Janie Calder sure the body is related to their missing person investigation the stakes are raised exponentially. Then a witness is killed in suspicious circumstances and Max finds himself sidelined leading him to believe there are people in Police Scotland who want him as far away from this case as possible. Unfortunately they have underestimated his determination to uncover the truth but even Max can't begin to fathom just how dangerous things are about to get.

This is the first book by Neil Lancaster featuring DS Max Craigie and has set the scene for a cracking new series set in beautiful Scottish landscape. Max was likeable right from the start and his determination to get things done made for a fast moving and sometime scary read. Although more of a how do we prove it than a whodunnit there were still things to discover and work out which added to a very pleasing reading experience. I will definitely be on the look out for more Max Craigie in the future.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the opinions expressed are my own. This was an excellent read and is highly recommended.

I received this book from the publishers via Netgalley for a review. A new Scottish crime thriller, well paced, good character's an author on top of his game could not put in down

I very much enjoyed the character of DS Max Craigie and can see how a whole series could be built around him. The book is fast-paced and enjoyable. The family feud at the heart of the crime story was a bit far-fetched , and never really explained to my satisfaction. However the descriptions of the police and corruption within the force were gripping. So a slightly uneven read for me, but I nonetheless felt entertained and would read another book about Craigie very happily.

Excellent book, well written and brilliant storyline, believable and accurate. Enjoyed reading and unable to put it down, flows really well. Now looking forward to any sequels, and most definitely will read the back catalogue.

I love a good police procedural, and when I saw the rave reviews from Jane Casey and CL Taylor on the cover, two of my favourite authors, I was expecting to really enjoy it, but I found the whole thing really disappointing.

The start point of the story was promising - a grave in a cemetery marked "NEVER TO BE OPENED", a centuries old blood feud between two families. But then all of this seemed to fall by the wayside and it became a story entirely about Scottish gangsters and corrupt police officers. That in itself wouldn't exactly have put me off, it just wasn't the story I was hoping for and would have enjoyed more. It felt like this aspect of the story was dropped much too early - one of the deaths never even seemed to be explained properly how it had been carried out. It was partially explained but it still seemed a lot was left to chance.

The story pushes for banter between Craigie, Janie and Ross as they investigate, but it didn't feel natural and the characters needed a lot more work to flesh them out, particularly if this is the start of a new series. I also didn't really like the way it was written - just clumsy things like that every time Craigie had a gun pulled on him, he just said "We know you aren't going to shoot me" and I found myself wishing that someone just would shoot him to prove him wrong, or there was one incident where he could tell a man was a fighter from his broken nose and, but then half a page later he could tell the same man wasn't a fighter from his stance. Make your mind up! Also while we're at it, the title. Graves usually do belong to dead men - this doesn't really tell the reader much.

A really gripping storyline I am a great fan of all Scottish crime thrillers and their authors and welcome Neil Lancasteri into the genre..An old Scottish crime family’s elderly boss is murdered which leads on to a fascinating story with connections to th the past a great read.

I was thrilled to receive this from Netgalley having read all of Neil’s other books. This is a brand new series and what a cracker! There’s something about the Scottish authors, and their beautiful countryside that has me wanting to return. I had to remind myself of some of the expressions, but fortunately have a friend in Glasgow willing to help out!

It is a fabulous, exciting yarn from north of the border, and as the book goes on it does remind me of Line of Duty. The corruption is rife, and Max and Jane who are two of the smartest detectives I have comes across fear for their lives.

The book starts off with the murder of an old crime boss who is the head of the Hardie crime family, someone has old scores to settle dating back hundreds of years. As the death toll rises, and there’s more jiggery pokery in the police, it soon becomes clear that the tentacles of corruption are far reaching, and who can Max and Janie trust apart from each other.

What follows is an exciting game of cat and mouse, and the plot is well thought out and makes you want to read “just one more page” before going to sleep. Yet another night and it’s already 2am!

It is one of those books that you just either want to save until you’re on your own and not be disturbed or to crack on and finish. I didn’t want it to end.

My thanks to Neil, the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC.

This is the first in a new series for best selling author Neil Lancaster. We are introduced to DS Max Craigie who is newly transferred from the Met to Police Scotland.

Max brings his demons from his time in the Flying Squad and his tours of Iraq and Afghanistan while serving in the Black Watch..

He and fast tracker DC Janie Calder are asked to investigate the disappearance of Tam Hardie, a vicious gangland leader.

This leads them to murder,mayhem and the discovery of deep corruption within Police Scotland. It also puts their lives at risk when they refuse to back off.

A new series from Neil Lancaster and I, for one, can't wait for the next Max Crigie book!

A great new detective on the scene. Loved the characters and the story and can't wait for more in the series!

Ex-soldier DS Max Craigie and has been transferred from the Met up to a serious crime unit in Scotland near home. Separated from his wife and suffering rom PTSD, he is living a solitary existence.
When the head of a well-known crime family is murdered, the police need to work fast to close down the possibility of a turf war developing.
But Craigie thinks they are going too fast, glossing over connections to other murders and he is not sure why. When he goes it alone to find out more, his boss closes his enquiries and puts him on sick leave. Undaunted, Craigie continues his searches within the crime family and their enemies and uncovers a potential web of bent coppers.
Dead Man’s Grave is a very entertaining read. But I couldn’t quite fix the character of Max Craigie in my head. The combination of his maverick tendencies and his polite team-working techniques along with not quite being able to figure his accent, London or Scots, left me muddled.
There are plenty of action-packed sequences, but Craigie also had an uncanny ability to put his finger on the right location, the right clue and so on. The tracking and bugging of both goodies and baddies seemed simplistic, but I am happy to concede this as a mark of good explanations, given the obvious credentials of the writer. It was impossible not to think of Line of Duty when reading this, we are after all so steeped in bent copper stuff we even know what a Reg 12 is before it’s mentioned here. But unlike L of D, I was able to breathe freely at all times and wasn’t often on the edge of my seat.
A worthwhile piece of entertainment, nonetheless.

Lancaster's time in the police force gives his storyline real credibility and, as a result, in "Dead Man's Grave, we have a really engaging, fast-moving story based around Glasgow's number one gang and police corruption. Max Craigie, the lead detective and his side-kick, Janine, are an engaging duo assigned to investigate the sudden disappearance of a serious Glasgow gangster. Their investigation takes them to the far North of Scotland where they quickly achieve what looks like a successful result. But, all is not as it seems and soon the bodies begin to mount up. Our duo, oddly, find themselves pretty much side-lined as their senior officers try to close down the investigation. But Max and Janine are nothing if not resourceful and their perseverance is soon to impact on the top echelons of Police Scotland. Astute observation, clear thinking and latterly, thanks to a small tight group of good cops, they get a result. But along the way they face danger, threats, huge personal risk and relentless pressure. Excellent and fully deserving of 5 stars in the crime novel category.

Dead Man’s Grave is the first book that I have read by Neil Lancaster and I can honestly say that you should believe the blur, recommendations and hype as this is an excellently written book with well drawn characters and with superb page turning qualities

Highly recommended

This is the first Neil Lancaster book I've read and will certainly not be the last as one of the best reads on tartan noir I have read for a while about an old family feud and police corruption. Excellently written and hopefully this is the first of many on DCS Max Craigie.