Having read Dead Man's Grave and thoroughly enjoyed it I was looking forward to reading the next book in the series and I wasn't disappointed .The characters are interesting and very realistic I almost felt I knew them !The storyline is exciting ,gripping and fast paced .Set in Scotland which I think adds to the atmospheric feel of the story Max and his Team are back ,this is a Police Procedural with a difference .This is a story of murder ,corruption ,organised crime and it has a great ending .I look forward to reading the next book in the series .Many thanks to the Publisher ,the Author and NetGalley for my free copy in return for an honest review .

My last book of 2021!

This is Book 2 in the Max Craigie series. I absolutely loved Book 1 so was so excited when @netgalley approved me to read Book 2.

A young man jumps from a bridge in Glasgow but all is not as it seems. Max Craigie uncovers evidence & his past comes back to haunt him.

I loved this! @neil_lancaster_crime writes so well, fast paced keeping you gripped the whole way. The bursts of humour & sarcasm along the way add to the enjoyment.

Thanks as always to @netgalley & @harpercollinsuk for this advance copy. Due for release Feb 2022.

Hands down 5🌟

This is the first time I have read a Neil Lancaster novel and I thoroughly enjoyed it. As I was reading I realised that it is the second in the series and although this book can stand alone. I was enjoying so much I wish I had read the first.
The characters are great and the twisting fast paced plot meant it was an effort to put the book down
Highly recommended Hope there is a third novel

Excellent book, so well written and such a good story. The plot was intriguing, and full of twists and turns. A great cast of characters, good and bad . A real page-turner, loved it!

The Blood Tide is book II in the Max Craigie series.
With Tam Hardie in prison for the foreseeable future and now reunited with his wife, life is improving for Max. When he comes across a suicide case, it isn’t long before he works out that things are not how they appear. A little digging uncovers another high-level police corruption ring.
The Blood Tide has a tight, gritty storyline, but I still cannot get to grips with Max Craigie, or many other of the main characters, some of the strands, introduced successfully to make the plot more intricate, are not fully resolved and some of th fixes are a bit of a stretch. Nonetheless, this is an enjoyable read, with the last section the best part,

Max Craigie is investigating a suicide of a member of the National Crime Agency after an old friend Hamish tips him off that all is not what it seems. Soon, Hamish too is dead, another supposed suicide. There's a drugs turf war going on and once again there is a corrupt police officer at its core.

I really liked the first in this series (this is the second) but for me this didn't quite hit the mark. I'm not sure why, perhaps it was the similarities to the first one, perhaps too much happened too quickly, perhaps the dialogue was a bit clunky at times. I didn't dislike it but I don't feel the enthusiasm I had for the first one. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, so was really looking forward to this new one. It certainly didn't disappoint! Max, Janie and Ross are involved with sorting out corruption in the Scottish police. This story centres around drug dealing gangs and the involvement of serving officers. The nasty villain from the previous book, Tam Hardie, is now in prison but still an important character. This is a fast paced plot which will have you on the edge of your seat right to the end. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

Thank you for the opportunity to read 'The Blood Tide'. I enjoyed reading this fast-paced novel and will search out Neil Lancaster's first novel and look forward to his future books.

Good book. Great story and engaging characters. Looking forward to more from author Neil Lancaster. Love that it is set in Scotland.

DS Max Craigie is back on the trail of a corrupt member of law enforcement who has teamed up with his old nemesis Tam Hardie. Max and his partner Janie investigate a reported suicide they think is murder and a suspicious arrest of a drug dealer who reportedly has an unusually small stash in his car.

I really enjoyed the first Max Craigie book and was looking forward to seeing how the friendships with Janie and their boss Ross developed. While there are glimpses of a strong connection developing between the three these were crammed in between quite heavy pieces of action.

There are at least four cases in this one book, all ultimately linked, but not clearly enough to feel like it was all leading towards one end. This left me feeling like none of the plotlines were really given a chance to develop properly each seeming to be resolved quite easily to turn to a to behind the plot. The novelty of that wore off quickly and the book ended up dragging as I lost interest in finding out the next layer of conspiracy.

A fast and furious read from start to finish. Perfect twist midway through the book too, just as you think you have the measure of the drugs gang and Max & his police colleagues in trying to crack the drug smuggling.

For only his second book Neil Lancaster is certainly moving up the ranks of top crime writers.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this novel. This is the second book featuring DS Max Craigie, following Dead Man's Grave. Though The Blood Tide includes some references to the previous book it can be read alone - as indeed I did being new to the books of Neil Lancaster. DS Craigie is more of an action hero type than I am used to - probably about as far from e.g. Rebus as it is possible to get but the story line is non-stop and a very good read. Craigie's old pal Bruce Ferguson plays a fundamental role in the book and is well realised as are the other supporting characters. Right I'm off to read the first book in the series & any others by Neil Lancaster I can lay my hands on.

The second in the DS Max Craigie series and better than the first and that was fantastic, gripping with great characters.
I received this book from HQ digital via Netgalley for a review.

My first read by this author, and was hooked in immediately. Loved the story line, the characters, and could easily imagine the scenery. Would thoroughly recommend to others.

A man jumps from a bridge, so terrified something might happen to him and his family, that death is preferable. The police officer who witnesses is killed, but it is staged to look like a suicide. On the other side of Scotland a fisherman vanishes without trace, leaving behind a wife and accounts of living above his means as a fisherman.

Enter DS Max Craigie and his Police Standards Reassurance Team. Max has found evidence that links all the victims. It is also personal, as the dead police officer is an old friend. But if Max and the team can’t figure out what exactly is going on, then there will be more bodies. Possibly even their own. Meanwhile a prison break further complicates things for Max, and directly puts his life in real danger.

This book was a very enjoyable read. The pace was well maintained, with great characters, and a good switch between the different cast of people in the story. As the book unwinds, pulling us further into a tale of drug dealing, networks, cartels, and corruption, you can really feel the sense of urgency from Max and the team to solve this one, with minimal bloodshed. I don’t want to say any more, as it will give too much away, but I would definitely recommend this one. I will be looking out for the next in the series for sure!

*I received this copy from NetGalley for review but all opinions are my own

Fantastic! I was hooked on this story from the very first chapter. Easy to follow, short chapters, realistic dialogue. A gripping plot which, I am relieved to say, didn’t follow the usual jeopardy formula. Loved it and now want more!!

Thank you HQ Stories and NetGalley for introducing me to Neil Lancaster’s work.

I’ve heard many good things about this book and author, so glad I could give this a try.

It had a good storyline and I liked the line of duty feel! Bent coppers! What could be better!? … good ones ha! The characters were a nice mix.

It was an interesting read and I could really picture the action in my head.

Personally, there was too much dialogue for me, I found it hard to keep up sometimes as there’s quite a few characters in the book. But it’s just personal preference!

Thank you Netgalley for this opportunity.

Excellent story, enjoyed reading it, hard to put down, as I never knew what was coming next!!!!! There is some deft ploting here, definitely one of the better police procedurals I have read this year, so if you want a really good long read, I thoroughly recommend this book.

I have, as yet, not read the first book featuring the main character DS Max Craigie but I will do so now! I really enjoyed The Blood Tide where the author provides a tale of pace and tension, a gripping read.
Highly recommended.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Harper Collins for this ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

DS Max Craigie returns in this book but still with baggage from the previous one and, indeed, some of the characters from that reappear. It's not necessary to read both but it gives a better understanding to Max. Bodies pile up and evidence goes missing giving Max and the Police Standards Reassurance Team a hard job to find out what is going on. Is there a traitor in their ranks? There is some pretty gruesome goings on and that loses a point from me. Banter between the team is ok but not as sharp as it might be, but I do love the problems with the tropical heating in their basement "suite" - makes a change from the more typical, in my life, arctic conditions! I also love the Heads of Teams/Inter Agency meetings. Oh dear, oh so realistic, there should always be a Ross in there. There are several threads that become intertwined which complicates matters as they seem a bit isolated at first but the intelligence gathering and thoughts of the main characters bring them together neatly. Descriptions of the Scottish countryside are spot on - I'm sitting looking out at some of those grey dreich skies at the moment. Thanks to NetGalley and HQ Digital for an advance copy n exchange for my honest review.