Detectives Max Craigie and Janie Calder arrive at the scene, a small town where everyone has secrets to hide. They soon realise this murder is part of a blood feud between two Scottish families that stretches back to the 1800s. One thing's for certain: it might be the latest killing, but it won't be the last...
As the body count rises, the investigation uncovers large-scale corruption at the heart of the Scottish Police Service. Now Max and Janie must turn against their closest colleagues - to solve a case that could cost them far more than just their lives...
This grabbed me from the first page with lots of twists and turns, It does contain some violence but is worth a read.

This book opens so well… the head of Scotland’s most notorious crime family approaches an old grave with the inscription “This Grave Can Never Be Opened”, only to disappear and become the subject of a missing person’s enquiry. I’m delighted to say that it only gets better from there! We meet DS Max Craigie and DC Janie Calder as they begin the investigation into the events leading up to the disappearance of this “mob boss” as well as the resulting fallout.

Craigie must tackle his own personal demons, and Calder her professional ones, as the body count mounts and they find themselves uncovering a case of potential police corruption as well as murder. The lead characters are fantastic, and they are strongly supported by a wonderfully drawn group of colleagues, friends and “baddies”. The action is paced fantastically, and the Scottish setting is beautifully expressed.

I loved the descriptions of the police procedures, as well as the detectives’ investigations into the far-reaching impacts of organized crime. I very much look forward to reading the next in the series.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

Nothing beats an extremely well written and plotted English (well Scottish in this case) police procedural. This one is outstanding from the opening chapter and the characters and story do not let go until the very end.

Thank you to Netgalley for my ARC.
I have to admit that I had not heard of Lancaster before. I simply saw the similarities between this and the TV series ‘Line of Duty’.
Max is a DC who has recently moved to Scotland. Obviously, he hasn’t got that many friends or much support in his new location. So when the head of a notorious crime family is killed, Max is busy trying to work out who is who. He needs to get a move on though, as the body count is starting to increase!
Max soon realises that all is not what it seems when his evidence starts going missing and eventually he is forced to stop working.
Who is behind this and what do they want? Who will help this new and bold DC from London?
I found that the detail of the police procedure only added to the pace and realism of this book. The character of Max was very likeable not only for his determination to get to the truth but also because he clearly loves his dog.
I am glad to learn that this is the first book in the series as I really enjoyed this book.

Draws you in from a great starting chapter to the satisfying conclusion. Fast paced throughout with great characters.

This book was promising from the write up. Max Craigie leaves the Met and returns to Scotland. It is fairly well paced and he discovers a great deal of corruption amongst his colleagues. The book is just ok and would probably be great on the screen as suggested by many.

DS Max Craigie is an ex-military who served in Afghanistan. He is now working for the Scottish Police Service as part of the Serious Organised Crime team based in Gartcosh, North Lanarkshire, after leaving the London Met under a cloud. He and Janie Calder, a DC, are at an abandoned graveyard at Ballachy opening a grave. In the grave is Tam 'Peeler' Hardie, the head of Scotland's biggest crime family, involved in distributing heroin and cocaine. Tam has been killed using a 200-year-old cutlass, the same one used on one of his ancestors.

This is an amazing and riveting crime thriller with some fantastic characterisation and it completely blew me away. The author certainly has a talent for blindsiding twists and deviously complex characters. In a multilayered story that shifts from the past to the present, Max is having to deal with a variety of personal issues including PTSD and a separation from his wife, Kate who wishes to take a break from their marriage so she has stayed in London.

As Neil Lancaster expertly shows off his skill the reader is treated to a wonderfully oppressive, fast-paced thriller. The tale incorporates police corruption, gang crimes, violence and retribution, all culminating in a rip-roaring and high octane ending. I was hooked from the opening chapter and mesmerised throughout. I recommend Dead Man’s Grave very highly.

A special thank you to HQ, Neil Lancaster, NetGalley and Pigeonhole for a complimentary copy of this novel at my request. This review is my unbiased opinion.

This gripping novel is the first in a series following DS Max Craigie as he investigates the disappearance of a highly prolific drug lord of Scotland. This investigation leads Max to uncover an age old feud alongside corruption in the Scottish police force. I enjoyed the twists and turns as Max tried to outsmart the force of the Hardie family and the corrupt police officers.

This book had some promising commendations and an intriguing blurb, so I thought I’d give it a go. The author has served in the military police and London’s Metropolitan police, as well as currently presenting true crime shows, so it figures that there will be a lot of background knowledge and meticulous research going into his fiction, especially since he now lives in the Highlands of Scotland, where this novel is set.

The research definitely shows, though not always in a good way. The story feels clunky in places, either as a result of the author using multiple unnecessarily complex words, through overly detailed descriptions of simple everyday – for the characters, if not the audience – actions and events, and then, in some places, overuse of the same word in the same or consecutive sentences. Having said all that, the story itself is well plotted, though a little over the top at times, and the two central characters are engaging and intriguing, the main character’s sidekick more than the protagonist himself, to be honest.

The hero, Max Craigie, is a bit of an author-insert, not that that’s always a bad thing: ex-military, ex-Met and now working in for Police Scotland after his involvement in a fatal shooting down south. Max is old school, though not to the point of bigotry, and very firmly on the side of right. For the majority of this story, he’s paired with Janie Calder, a university graduate on the fast-track promotion career path, who is seen as a bit of an oddball for her academic interests and achievements as well as her avant garde musical tastes.

Max and Janie are initially called in to investigate a report of a missing person, the patriarch of one of Scotland’s most notorious criminal families. When they find his body hidden under a tombstone in an abandoned – and remote – churchyard, it at first seems that he has been murdered by a local man obsessed with a centuries-old feud between his family and that of the victim. Not all the facts of the case make sense to Mac and Janie, however, and they soon realise that others were involved; and now the victim’s family are out for revenge on the perpetrators, their families, and, as the investigation later on reveals corruption deep within the Police Force itself, on Max and his family.

I liked that Max’s home life wasn’t what might be expected of a police officer who had spent much of his career working in large cities, although the more we see of his closest relatives, the more fitting his house’s location and its other long-term inhabitant is seen to be to his character. Although Max has the stereotypical relationship breakdown common to many fictional detectives, he’s neither bitter nor angsty about it, which is refreshing. On the other hand, while the book’s final chapter makes it clear that this is the beginning of a new series, I’m not taken enough with the setting or characters to seek out either the next one or the books that make up the author’s other series.

From the opening scene in a remote Scottish graveyard to the breathtaking conclusion in a Glasgow park, the action never lets up in Dead Man’s Grave, the unputdownable first police procedural in the new Max Craigie series. The Murder Coast is next and it can’t come fast enough.

After a justified shooting in London, Max Craigie has joined Police Scotland. His first assignment in Serious Crimes is a missing person case. Tam Hardie has not been seen for days. Tam Hardie is also the kingpin behind the drug trade in Scotland. His sons will not be easily satisfied. It is a surprisingly easy case to solve but it will lead to a complicated progression of deaths linked to a 300 yearly feud.

Neil Lancaster retired after 25 years as a detective on the Metropolitan Police. His experience shows in Dead Man’s Grave. The characters, especially Janie Calder, come more alive with each chapter. The mystery is carefully plotted with slowly escalating tension. The conclusion is satisfying and makes you want more. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, HQ Digital and Neil Lancaster for this ARC.

📚 BOOK REVIEW 📚
Dead Mans Grave By Neil Lancaster - Publication Date~ 16th July 2021

Max has moved up from london police and is now newly working for the Scottish police force. His wife has remained in london. Max is trying to make a new life for himself and this includes working with a new partner Janie. Some of the lads thinks Janie is a bit odd but Max is the sort to judge people himself! They both start working on a case together - a case which starts of with them having to visit the son of one of the biggest gangsters in Scotland!!

Ok so I have read many many crime/thriller/police books - they are my favourite! This is the first I had read a book by this author, so didn’t really know what to expect...... WOW 😳!! I literally couldn’t put my kindle down. I loved the way that Max and Janie’s friendship progressed and how Janie was there for Max when he needed it most. This wasn’t just about catching the ‘bad guy’ .... There was bad guys where they least expected it!!

#netgalley #neillancaster #deadmansgrave #police #thriller

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I love a good crime thriller, but i have not read many police procedurals. But this one was really engrossing and kept my interest. Great to read a Scottish crime thriller as usually i tend to read American but I will be searching out more, first book in a series I would love to read more of

Oh I loved this, a really juicy Scottish police procedural story to get your teeth into. It's the first in a series and I am so looking forward to reading more. I have recommended this to a few of my friends. Brilliant, a real page turner.

Everytime I read a book that I absolutely love, I struggle to find one I like afterwards. This book has given me that problem again, as I loved it and will be definitely looking out for more books by the author, and hopefully their are more that follow the story of Max and Janie.

As a lover of Line of Duty this book was right up my street, and would truly recommend to anyone who likes a good detective novel.

Great policing detail, but the characters all felt very flat and two dimensional, and i never found myself gripped by the whodunnit element.

This book is brilliant. I couldn’t stop reading it. I read a lot of police procedural and this is up there with the best of them. It is fast paced and suspenseful with brilliant characters and Scottish humour. Great start to this series.

I really enjoyed this book. Max Craigie has left the Met and gone back to his roots, taking a job with Police Scotland. He soon finds himself out on a limb when he realises that there is a huge amount of corruption in the Force, seemingly being run by the notorious Hardie family.
This a fast paced story and contains some violent scenes. I will certainly read more from this author and hope there will be more in this series.
Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.

It seems this is the first book in a new series and it’s a confident start. It’s set in Scotland and at the heart of this story is gangland warfare and police corruption. These are themes that have been explored by other authors, but this stands up well in comparison. There’s some graphic detail, which I don’t mind. That’s the nature of brutal crime and it’s well written without being gratuitous.

It’s a decent police procedural with the central cop carrying a bit of personal baggage, but he’s the kind of character the reader can buy in to. There are enough twists to keep you guessing and plenty of room for character and relationship developments if this takes off. The settings are clear and very Scottish and overall, I enjoyed this first outing.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

Three and half stars from me. Its a well paced police procedural which is my favourite type of book but for some reason I just found it difficult to get into.
I can't put my finger on why I struggled, the book flowed and the descriptions were good but I just didn't engage with the main character and then found myself skipping pages.
Some books just grab you and some books don't and unfortunately this one didn't do it for me but others may thoroughly enjoy it.

Dead Man’s Grave by Neil Lancaster is the first in a new series with D S Max Craigie as the main police character. I really enjoyed reading this book and look forward to reading more in this series.
What started as a long outstanding family feud between two old Scottish families and the death of the father of the Hardy family, one of the main gangland characters in Scotland. Then moves into police corruption at the highest level in the Scottish police force.
There are only a few police officers Max Craigie trusts to help in in this fight for justice.
Highly recommended