4 Stars from me
Going to be completely honest, I had NO idea how to even begin to rate this one!
There were times when it was a 3, and also times when it was a 5+++ so in the end I’ve plumped for a 4.
I adore Stuart MacBride’s Logan McRae character and series. Oh my heart sang when I read Cold Granite – it was a revelation to me, a gritty, dark, evil, murder-filled crime thriller that made me laugh! If you’ve never read it then I highly recommend it.
In No Less The Devil we meet DS Lucy McVeigh and her sidekick ‘Dunc’ – they form the usual pairing format that we all expect and love from crime thrillers and I enjoyed their interactions.
There is also the astonishingly descriptive prose that is unique to Mr MacBride. He can convey thoughts, sounds, places, weather, pain, expressions like no-one else I have ever read. The man is a gifted, literary genius. I felt that same adrenaline buzz that I felt from Cold Granite when reading one of his perfect turns of phrase. Thank you so much for writing books!
There is a horrible serial killer, the Bloodsmith, there is disruption within the police team and pressure for results. McVeigh doesn’t get on ever so well with her boss and is given the unenviable task of cracking the case – knowing that her career could well end if she fails.
In the mix is old case where a young boy murdered a homeless person, he been released from prison and seeks out McVeigh for help. Added into this she is targeted by the mother of a murdered man and seemingly being stalked by the Bloodsmith, oh and then there’s the small matter of Charlie from Professional Standards who is constantly sniffing around.
It’s clear that DS Lucy McVeigh could solve pretty much anything with one hand tied behind her back, unsurprising really as she was bright enough to be a candidate for the ever so impressive and super exclusive St Nick’s.
Anyway, there were also parts of this book that made me wonder if I’d lost my mind so look out for that…
If you are going to have any chance of keeping up with the storyline you need to be reading this over as few an amount of sittings as possible so make sure you’ve got drinks and snacks and a comfy chair!
Blurb: ‘We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell.’
It’s been seventeen months since the Bloodsmith butchered his first victim and Operation Maypole is still no nearer catching him. The media is whipping up a storm, the top brass are demanding results, but the investigation is sinking fast.
Now isn’t the time to get distracted with other cases, but Detective Sergeant Lucy McVeigh doesn’t have much choice. When Benedict Strachan was just eleven, he hunted down and killed a homeless man. No one’s ever figured out why Benedict did it, but now, after sixteen years, he’s back on the streets again – battered, frightened, convinced a shadowy ‘They’ are out to get him, and begging Lucy for help.
It sounds like paranoia, but what if he’s right? What if he really is caught up in something bigger and darker than Lucy’s ever dealt with before? What if the Bloodsmith isn’t the only monster out there? And what’s going to happen when Lucy goes after them?
Read and Rated 