The Night Watch by Neil Lancaster

 

A body is discovered on an Edinburgh golf course. It turns out to be a well known criminal who has just avoided a conviction for murder. Almost two hundred miles away the advocate responsible for the "not proven" verdict falls to his death. Are the deaths linked? Is there a vigilante responsible? 

The death of another criminal who evaded justice 5 years earlier is connected to the case. Could the vigilante be a rogue cop? Max Craigie and the rest of his team are tasked with investigating who is responsible before any more deaths occur.

Right from the start you are gripped by the action packed opening first chapter. The pace doesn't let up as we are immediately moved on to yet more action. Neil Lancaster takes his time in setting the scene for the introduction of DS Max Craigie and the rest of the "Policing Standards Reassurance" team.

The team still consists of Max, Janie, Ross, Norma and Barney. The last two were a great addition to the team in the second book, The Blood Tide, so it's great to see that they are still around. The shift from the crime solving in the first book in the series, Dead Man's Grave, to unearthing police corruption in the rest of the series obviously meant a bigger team was required. The interactions between the different members of the team are superb.

A forensically aware murderer means that Max, Janie and the rest of the team have their work cut out for them as they try to piece together exactly how the first two deaths occurred whilst trying not to alert any possible suspects to their presence. Neil Lancaster's background in the police force shines through in the detail used to explain evidence gathering.

Even though a suspect is identified early on in the story it doesn't make things any easier for the team as the suspect managed to kill two people, hundreds of miles apart, without leaving any kind of trail. Twist after twist after twist leaves the reader wondering if Max and Janie have finally met their match this time around.

Fans of the first two books in the series will not be disappointed. Anyone who likes police procedural novels will also enjoy this. The book can easily be read as a standalone novel but I would encourage readers to invest in the first two books in the series to gain full enjoyment. It's difficult not to compare the story to TV series such as Line Of Duty, however Max and Janie (and the rest of the team) seem to solve the crimes much quicker.

The Night Watch by Neil Lancaster will be published on 8th September 2022 in Kindle and audio format and on 15th September 2022 in hardback. My thanks to NetGalley and HQ for a review copy.