Neil’s books get better and better. This one is fabulous, gritty and the characters are well established now and work well together. I think this team is great.

The story is one that is all too familiar in today’s society with trafficking and foreign criminals at large. They are so brutal and this time they have the Scottish law enforcement in their pocket. Someone somewhere is leaking information and the gangs are one step ahead. It is a book that makes you want to read “just one more chapter” and before you know it the book has whizzed along. I was very sorry to finish it, and I loved the addendum about Janie Calder, gave us all an insight into her former life.

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

Exciting, fast paced and real. Neil Lancaster has a knack of drawing you into the book and making you stay awake long after you should have fallen asleep to get to the end.
Crime writing at its best!

Another great page-turner of a thriller featuring DI Max Craigie. He is called upon to investigate the disappearance of a 15 year old Albanian girl who had been rescued from being trafficked and placed in a foster family. It may be that the people she had escaped from have discovered where she lives and have abducted her.
Craigie’s team’s search leads them to suspect police corruption and a terrible Albanian gang lord. They need to act quickly as lives are at risk.
Lancaster repeatedly raises the tension and makes this a book which is impossible to put down.
Thanks again to the publishers for the ARC.

An excellent story that continues the Max Craigie series of detective books. As usual it is fast paced and deals, not only with corruption within the Scottish police but Albanian gangsters and trafficked youngsters. Keep the stories coming.
Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for the advance copy of this book.

I really enjoyed this book and although I did not realise it was part of a series it did not matter not having read any before. The story is about a young Albanian girl who is trafficked to Scotland carrying drugs. She is rescued by the Police as she is so young and fostered by a loving couple and is doing really well. She has a younger sister in Albania and the foster family are trying really hard to reunite them. Afrodita Dushku has been with Valerie and Reg for 3 years and during that time she has found running as a release and is very good at it. A policeman’s, DS Max Craigie, wife is helping the family with adoption and getting her sister out of Albania to the UK. Then things go out of kilter. Affi decides to go running on her birthday as she had new trainers. Valerie drops her off and that is the last time she is seen. Affi is abducted by the Albanian mafia as it is them that lost the drugs she was carrying when she entered the UK. Once “caught” she is going to be working in a brothel which is starting up and being run by an Albanian madam. The Police work hard and follow leads to a happy conclusion. The story continues at a really fast pace and I loved the characters, DS Craigie, DC Janie Calder and DI Fraser who does not suffer fools at all. The story is written in such a way that it is so believable in the world we are now living in and it makes me sad that our lives are struck with such turmoil knowing that this story may be fiction on paper but you know in the wider world it is happening. A great book and a great read and will read more of the author’s books.

Book 4 in the DS Max Craigie series is another high octane police procedural from one of the best at it at the moment.

This time around the team are chasing Albanian Gangsters in a story of human trafficking and prostitution and as ever full of dodgy corrupt coppers.

Neil Lancaster really shows his experience in his thrillers as he writes detailed descriptions of the procedures and processes that his characters use.

The characters are probably my only annoyance as they can feel a bit cardboard but as the pace ramps up and the action really kicks in, you just settle down and enjoy a really cracking thriller.

This is the latest in the DS Max Craigie series and another epic book. Craigie , when helping his wife look for a missing Albanian teenager, realises that there is human trafficking going on a large scale involving Albanian gangs and corrupt cops. Young vulnerable people are being abducted for the sex trade and other organised crimes. What starts as a missing person search turns into a hunt for psychotic killers. When the criminals always appear to be a step ahead of Craigie and his team it is apparent that there are leaks from the very top of the police force.

This is another fast paced, action packed book from an author who knows how to keep the suspense and thrills going. Although this is the fourth in the series it reads well as a stand alone.

If you're looking for a gripping police procedural book then look no further.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. A definite 5 stars!

"'Shit, is anyone in Scottish law enforcement not corrupt?', Janie shook her head. 'You do wonder, right? But then we're looking for it, aren't we? We're actively looking for signs of corruption, which is better than just ignoring it. I think we can make things better in Scotland by looking for bent cops and those that profit from corrupting bent cops. After all, is we don't look, we won't find. That's my feeling, anyway,' said Max."

A missing teenage, former trafficking victim gets DS Max Craigie and his team involved in a much bigger case than anticipated in the fourth in this reliably good series of Scottish police procedurals. The familiar team, DC Janie Calder, DI Fraser Ross, intelligence analyst Norma Kirk and Yorkshireman Barney (ex security services freelancer), are all back, with their individual strengths that make this clandestine police corruption team unstoppable. It strikes the balance, between the darkness of human trafficking and the character familiarity of series crime fiction with plenty of human interest drama. The reader cares about the characters and is invested in a positive outcome. It's tense and fast-paced, with humour and great team dynamics. A definite page-turner!

A great read about the drugs / people trafficking and crime underworld run by Albanian gangs in Scotland. The book was really interesting, full of action and a real page turner. It does not all make for easy reading but it feels realistic and I liked the investigation where the team worked together and were able to uncover the needed evidence. The police do not all come out of this as pure and innocent. Despite the length of the book (round 400 pages) I sailed through it .
Thanks to Net Galley for a great read in exchange for an honest review

Blood runs cold by Neil Lancaster is the fourth book in the DS Max Craigie series and I think it’s his best one yet.
Twelve-year-old Afrodita Dushku was trafficked from Albania to be a drugs mule. She travelled on a train to the beautiful Scottish Highlands where she was caught by the local authorities. Three years later, now fifteen she has turned her life around she lives with a loving Scottish foster family and her name is changed to Affi smith.
She is now a typical teenager and has a love of running. Her family just brought her a new pair of trainers and she decides to go for a run. Which she never returns. At first her foster parents, Valarie and reg think she has just gone off somewhere to blow of some steam, like she has been in the past.
But Affi has been caught again by her traffickers and wants payback for all the money that was lost when she was caught with the drugs she was carrying. So, they take her to a brothel to set her up to work.
DS Max Craigie and DC Jane Calder and the rest of the team are called to investigate Affi disappearance. Which when the delve further, it not all about a missing teenager but more involving trafficking, drugs and prostitution and they also have to deal with corruption in the police force.
Thank you, HQ, for a copy of Neil Lancaster’s latest offering. Like the previous books in this series I have come to love this series and Neil Lancaster one of my favourite authors too. This is another exciting, but dark and intense and episode of the series and current to what is going on today. I enjoy the goings on between the team and how they get together, which each of them have a role to play to get the job done. I was engrossed in this read held my breath at one point as I thought the author was going to kill off a character but it came good in the end. This is also good as a standalone read from the author. Please read you won’t regret it. 5 stars from me.

Affine was rescued from a drug dealing gang and now lives with a foster family in Scotland. On her 15th birthday she disappears. Has she had an accident, has she run away or has she been taken? DS Max Craigie and his team become involved when it looks like a corrupt police officer may be involved.

What a tense and fast moving novel with great characters. Affi will need Max and his team to be safe.

Brilliant novel very well written. Keeps you wanting to turn the pages. Would suggest to read other novels with Max Craigie as you would not be disappointed.

Another great Max Craigie book from Neil Lancaster. I am really enjoying the series and this is the 4th book.

It is good to learn more about the characters and that Max's wife Katie plays more than a peripheral role. I also like the interplay between the team and the obvious respect they have for each other. I am not in the police but the procedural details seem very plausible. The author is not afraid to deal with tough issues like human trafficking and violent crime and he writes very well.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Looking forward to book 5.

This is another triumph in the Max Craigie series.
Young Albanian Affie Smith has gone missing, and her foster parents are frantic. Affie has had a troubled life so far, as she was a victim of people trafficking, but was lucky enough to be intercepted by the police whilst she was on a job for her captors, and is living under the protection of her new parents.
Her younger sister is still stuck in Albania and the foster family are trying their best to get her over so that she can live with Affie.
However, this is a dark tale of human trafficking, sex slaves, organised crime and police corruption.
Max & his team are on the case, and must find Affie before it is too late, but who can they trust within the police force?
What a brilliant read! I can't wait for the next installment.

Another fantastic Max Craigie novel. Neil Lancaster is turning out consistently good books in this series. Looking forward to the next one already.
A good balance of drama, crime and a chunk of humour mixed in based on the camaraderie between colleagues and their (stressed out) boss.
Many thanks for the ARC.

The fourth book in this brilliant series featuring DS Max Craigie. A kidnapping of a fifteen year old girl leads to an Albanian gang leader who is terrifyingly evil. This series is superb, I have enjoyed reading all the books in the series so far and this one is just as good. The story is fast paced and thrilling. I love the characters, the dynamics within the team is wonderful. The story is well written with a tightly controlled plot.
Highly recommended.

This book needs to come with a serious warning…don’t start to read it if you’ve got anything planned! I read it in a day, and part of a night…absolutely gripping from the first until the final word. I’ve not come across this author before but I’m now off to download the rest of his books. Simply cannot recommend enough!

Thank you to Netgalley the author and publishers for an arc in exchange for an honest review

I've read a few of Neil Lancaster's books and they are always really enjoyable. This was no exception, Well plotted and paced with well drawn characters. Hugely recommended!

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This is the 4th book in a series. I’m normally pretty strict about reading books in order but if I enjoy this one, I will go back and read books 1-3. Neil Lancaster is a new author for me and I’m excited to give this a try

The story starts off very quickly with events from 3 years ago that lead to the saving of a young girl being trafficked by an Albanian gang and used to transport drugs through Scotland. The girl, Affi, is being fostered and seemingly thriving 3 years later when she is kidnapped again by members of the Albanian gang.

The case is brought to the attention of DS Craigie and they head up the investigation into Affi’s disappearance. As Craigie and his team investigate Affi’s disappearance they find a more dangerous and widespread involvement of the Albanian gang. They have to root out the dangerous connections the gang has and how they have infiltrated law enforcement.

Even though I haven’t read the previous books in the series this was easy to follow along with and not be lost. I will definitely go back and add the previous installments of this series to my TBR list!

Blood Runs Cold is an excellent well crafted crime thriller with a cast of great characters good, bad and downright evil. This book could not of have a better title as my own blood ran cold a few times with certain scenes.
12 year old Affie had been trafficked from Albania as a drug mule for Albanian gangs. Managing to escape them now 3 years later she is living with a new identity and loving foster parents. Suddenly she disappears and DS Max Cragie joins the investigation. One that turns from a missing persons investigation descending into the uncovering of other trafficking victim’s going missing, further ties with Albanian gang, the mafia, drugs and human slavery/prostitution.
Max and team have a lot on their plate particularly as there is someone in the police doing all they can to disrupt and end their investigations.
Hard hitting but with different characters that make you smile then gasp this is certainly a page turner. I’m new to this author but will soon be reading the previous three books in this series.
My thanks to net galley and publisher for the opportunity to review this book honestly I

Blood Runs Cold is a fast paced police drama, set in Scotland. This is the first book I have read in the Max Craigie series, which is book 4 in the series, but it works brilliantly as a standalone book too. Following Max and his partner Janie in their investigation into police corruption. A great read that pulls you in from the very beginning.
Thank you to Netgalley for the free trial in exchange for my honest review.
4.5/5 stars.