The Night Watch by Neil Lancaster

The third DCI Max Craigie police thriller does not match the suspense of Dead Man's Grave or The Blood Tide, but the characters are still a pleasure to be around.

Gang enforcer Scott Paterson has just avoided prison, not acquitted, but with the dubious result of Not Proven. One night he is pulled over by an unmarked car, tasered and killed. On the same night, his legal advocate is tasered and thrown off a cliff whilst jogging. Major Investigations in Leith investigate, headed by DCI Donnie Watson, DI Marnie Gray, and DS John Lorimer, without result. A pattern emerges of previous unsolved killings, pointing to corruption in the force, and a killer seeking revenge against acquitted defendants.

DCI Max Craigie heads a specialized anti-corruption team with DC Janie Calder and his boss DI Ross Fraser, reporting to the Chief Constable of Scotland. Max's friend Niall joins them from London Covert Operations and goes undercover. Stop me if you've heard this before - but they face opposition from the local investigators, track missing weapons, and after several more killings, find a suspect - who kills himself before they can arrest him. All the threads come together as they should and the real killer steps out of plain sight to be suitably punished.

This third Max Craigie thriller is very different in tone, with the team joking around in familial ways. The suspense is lacking, but Lancaster does wrap it up well. The result for me was good writing, enjoyable characters, but nothing beyond standard.

2022 / Tradeback / 432 pages

My other reviews for Neil Lancaster:

Dead Man's Grave (Max Craigie #1)

The Blood Tide (Max Craigie #2)