No Less The Devil: The unmissable new thriller from the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Logan McRae series

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MacBride goes in hard and fast with No Less the Devil. There's no fannying about. No sitting around drinking cups of tea and eating scones. It's breathtaking. I have read and enjoyed this author's work before and am sure I will again but this was a disappointing and strange experience. It was a little confusing at the start but seemed to find its feet encouraging me to feel hopeful for the remainder of the story. Instead everything got seriously weird and, to me at least, more than a little unrealistic. Although I didn't feel the PTSD was clearly signposted it did gradually became more apparent, unfortunately it wasn't enough to even begin to explain the sudden changes which became the main focus of the story. This novel takes the reader into some uncomfortable reading and spins the reader sideways with all the twists and turns. No spoilers but it will mess with you head! A really enjoyable read, very dark in many places. And Scottish - so I found myself reading it in a Scottish accent. BUT....while subject matter, characters & their roles/relationships may feel familiar, don't get too comfy. And lose that smug little smile. I guarantee you have no idea where this is heading. To be honest, at one point I wondered if a "Dallas" style moment was pending...a scene where everyone wakes up & realizes it was all a dream.

There are a few plot twists, although I guessed who the murderer was very early in the tale. Other revelations were somewhat of a surprise, but were not completely startling. Most of the readability comes from the dilemmas that Reekie lands in. He is continually cold, miserable, and wet. (There are 285 references to “snow” in THE DEAD OF WINTER, 62 references to “cold”, and numerous mentions of related concepts such as “freezing”, “wet”, “shiver”, etc.) What? Wait. You haven't? Oh. In that case.... no, hold on. Do you like your books to be enthralling and engaging with relatable characters and a gripping and believable story line that builds to a crescendo of drama and excitement and falls into the "I can't put this down" category of enjoyable reads? You cannot say the Stuart MacBride writes ‘easy to read’ thrillers. I’m happy with that because I like to be challenged by a good story, with an intricate plot and surprising characters. I couldn't help thinking, as I got to the end, that Lucy may have made a deal with the Devil, and we all know the Devil likes to come out on top. He just might have met his match in Lucy. This is definitely going to be an interesting series. I view Dunk as the alter ego of the author. MacBride is laughing at himself. Not just comedy relief then, but a statement of where he fits into this cultural environment — fiction based on reality. Dunk is constantly complaining about writers who don’t use punctuation properly in their reports and, at one point, likens himself Dr. Watson following Holmes (Lucy) — in other words, a writer, telling a story about Lucy’s investigative prowess.

It’s perhaps unfair to compare this to the McRae series but unfortunately I became very bored with the story. The characters weren’t strong enough to drive the story and in some ways they felt like really diluted, much less funny, versions of McRae and Steel. Have you ever read a book and all is going well... then something happens and you have to re-read it because it is THAT surreal and random and off at a tangent that you think "surely not"?

Lucy really isn’t in a great place herself right now, she’s clearly suffering from PTSD, and also has a stalker, and what with the extra pressure of Benedict Strachan, who pleads for her help, she’s definitely on a downward spiral. Yes, it’s probably a lot bonkers but it’s also a highly entertaining, mad caper which I enjoy from start to finish. The storyline is as expertly plotted as I've come to expect from the MacBride books. As an author myself, I love deconstructing the plot lines and following the different strands through. As a reader, every twist and turn, every carefully placed piece of additional information, every morsel of information all come together to a satisfying, grab you by the throat, fast paced read.I’d really become invested in this storyline, a typically gripping crime thriller from Stuart Macbride, until we got to about 80%, and then it just seemed to veer off into the realms of fantasy from whence it completely lost the plot, and so did I! McVeigh is a very complex character. She has the potential to ride all the way to the top in her police career. She gets results and isn’t afraid to bend the rules to get them. She is joined by her partner, The Dunk, which brings some much-needed satirical relief. An anti-establishment character who isn’t afraid to tell you what he thinks about those in power. He was my favourite character with his “unfit” ramblings whilst trying to keep up with McVeigh.