Stevie‘s review of Dead Man’s Grave (DS Max Craigie, Book 1) by Neil Lancaster
Crime Thriller published by HQ Digital 16 Jul 21
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.
Grade: C
Summary:
This grave can never be opened.
The head of Scotland’s most powerful crime family is brutally murdered, his body dumped inside an ancient grave in a remote cemetery.This murder can never be forgotten.
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…This killer can never be caught.
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…
Read an excerpt.
