Stuart MacBride (that's me) was born in Dumbarton -- which is Glasgow as far as I'm concerned -- moving up to Aberdeen at the tender age of two, when fashions were questionable.

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He can convey, thoughts, sounds, places, weather, pain, expressions like no-one else I have ever read. This does open with two children killing a homeless man in the past, before taking the reader into the present. What happens in the last 20% of the novel, will change your perception of what has been happening to Lucy. I found the characters well drawn and it’s sprinkled with just enough dark humour, the last portion of the book completely turned me upside down……shocker! I have read and enjoyed this author's work before and am sure I will again but this was a disappointing and strange experience.

THE AUTHOR: Stuart MacBride lives in the northeast of Scotland with his wife Fiona, cats Gherkin, Onion and Beetroot, some hens, some horses and an impressive collection of assorted weeds. He’s now 27 and has recently been released back into the community, but he claims that ‘They’ are after him, whoever ‘They’ may be. It is made clear that MacVeigh has a traumatic past, she is suffering from PTSD, for which she is forced to see her no good therapist, we do eventually learn the details of the 'event', something she is not allowed to forget about, with Sarah Black hellbent on ensuring she continues to pay. MacBride has always possessed the ability to pull you into dark, gritty tales - served up with a large dollop of great characterisation and a side of dry humour.

No Less The Devil: The unmissable new thriller from the No. 1

This must be how it is like to be autistic, or schizophrenic, I thought as I read this constant patter—unable to filter out incessant messages coming from various sources. Lucy McVeigh is a new character with the usual back story - we find her back on the force after a traumatic event. On top of all this, she has a stalker who slashed her car's tyres, resulting in her having to drive around in her late father's ugly, embarrassing pink Bedford Rascal.With any crime story you expect a twist somewhere but the twist in this one simply cannot be predicted, a twist that makes the reader start flicking back through the book to re-read sections. 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! ADDENDUM (added May 7): I’m going to add this book to my shelf of “top crime thrillers published in 2022”.

No Less the Devil (Audio Download): Stuart MacBride, Cathleen No Less the Devil (Audio Download): Stuart MacBride, Cathleen

The frightened Strachan has been recently released from prison, he is asking for MacVeigh's help, talking of 'them' being after him, is he just paranoid? MacBride is not just a master at capturing the stomach-turning crime scenes and fast paced action, but has talent for describing the less appealing aspects of life. Both the media and the police seniors are demanding results but the investigation is constantly hitting brick wall. Still, as many other readers/reviewers, I was not completely prepared for what happened after the first shock.

Whilst being a stereotypical MacBride character setup, No Less The Devil also stereotypical in the sense that it is a thrilling, darkly humorous, gory, well-written and brilliantly plotted tartan noir thriller. As Lucy and The Dunk re-visit each crime scene we discover how the Bloodsmith has refined his murder technique over time. I hope it may be the start of a series - there were certainly story lines there which could be followed up. And to be fair, three quarters of this book featuring DS Lucy McVeigh and her hilarious sidekick DC Fraser aka The Dunk, was trademark MacBride excellence.