When Shadows Fall by Neil Lancaster

 

When a woman falls from a Scottish Munro suspicions arise as it's the fourth incident in a matter of months. The local police believe they're all accidents but Max Craigie isn't so sure.

A walker, critically injured from a fall, is rescued by Mountain Rescue working with the Coastguard. The pilot of the helicopter happens to be a friend of Max Craigie and voices his concerns. This is the fourth lone female walker to plunge in the space of a few months. The local police don't seem overly concerned, categorising them as accidents but Craigie wonders if there's something more. It could be laziness, incompetence or something much more sinister.

When Shadows Fall by Neil Lancaster is the sixth book in the Max Craigie series. Max works as part of a team investigating police corruption. Under the guise of a review of death investigations, they look more closely at the accidents and the members of the police force involved in investigating them.

The team are as foul-mouthed as usual. The boss, DI Ross Fraser is very much a technology dinosaur but is extremely creative with his vocabulary. The rest of the team, Janie, Norma and Barney, don't hold back either. There is a very strong sense of camaraderie among the team, mainly because they are so self-contained, the nature of investigating other members of the police means that they have to keep what they are doing secret. This book works extremely well as a stand-alone story but I heartily recommend reading the rest of the series to see the character development.

I found this story the most chilling of all of the books in the series. The nature of the crimes and the fact that social media was used to target victims came across as immensely plausible. Neil Lancaster has also taken inspiration from real events which makes things even more horrifying.

The pace never lets up, from the first page to the last, and my heart was in my mouth on a number of occasions. Alongside uncovering the villain, Max also has the worry of balancing his job with his home life, something that is getting more difficult by the day since his wife is about to give birth. This adds extra tension to the storyline as you can never tell what twists a writer holds in store.

When Shadows Fall by Neil Lancaster will be published on 27th March 2025 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and HQ for a review copy.

Author Details

NEIL LANCASTER is the No. 1 digital bestselling author of both the Tom Novak and Max Craigie series. His first Craigie novel, Dead Man’s Grave, was longlisted for the 2021 McIlvanney Prize for Best Scottish Crime Book of the Year. The second Craigie novel, The Blood Tide, topped several ebook and audio charts. It was also longlisted for the 2022 McIlvanney Prize and shortlisted for Best New Series at the Dead Good Reader Awards.

Neil’s authentic crime writing style stems from his police background. He served as a military policeman and worked for the Metropolitan Police as a detective, investigating serious crimes in the capital and beyond. As a covert policing specialist, he used all manner of techniques to investigate and disrupt major crime and criminals. He now lives in the Scottish Highlands, writes crime and thriller novels and works as a broadcaster and commentator on true crime documentaries. He is an expert on two Sky Crime TV series, Meet, Marry, Murder and Made for Murder.