Like if Good Omens met Hot Fuzz.

What did I just read? Not the first 80%, that was fine, the usual sarcasm and Scottishness. But the last 20% - just silly.

The good parts - the vivid, distinct characters MacBride always draws. The witty, dry dialogue.

This is hard to review without giving the game away. And I appreciate it must be a challenge to write crime fiction when your readers are always desperate for big twists… But this one will likely divide. Either you’ll go with it and enjoy it. Or you’ll have to skim read the last 20% because of the comic book style baddie network and fantasy superhero/villain origin story.

Hmm, a long and at times a heavy going book . Lucy is investigating a series of murders with her sidekick. After 17 months the investigation is not moving forw
Quite a few strange encounters, with a man who does not stay around, with Benedict who has been in prison for 16 years for murdering a homeless man, but is now out on parole. An exclusive school is also featured and you get a sense of something not being right there.
I did not care for the detectives very much, though warmed to Lucy slightly after the incident which resulted in the death of her best friend was described. The descriptions of her collegues were two dimensional. The crimes are bloody and overly complicated.
Towards the end, the story takes a different turn and I have ended the book with a feelibg of what was that all about and how on earth did Lucy get into the police.
Thank you to Net Galley for the ARc in exchange for an honest review

The book starts with DI Tudor being placed in charge of the case of tracking down serial killer, the ‘Bloodsmith’. As it's been seventeen months since the ‘Bloodsmith’ killed his first victim and a few months since the fifth one, it's the case no one wants. DI Tudor therefore wastes no time in delegating it to DS Lucy McVeigh and her sidekick DC Duncan Fraser, ‘the Dunk’. There is a second story line of Benedict Strachan, a recently released child killer, who killed a homeless man and asks Lucy to help, when he is attacked after his release and feels he is being hunted.

The first three quarters of the book is about Lucy and her side-kick ‘The Dunk’ tracking down the ‘Bloodsmith’ and Lucy trying to help Benedict and is a conventional police procedural, however, the last quarter turns the story on it’s head with Lucy starting to unravel. I enjoyed this as a stand-alone book, with it being well written and ties up neatly at the end but it wouldn’t work as a series for me.

A strange one this……… it begins as a pretty standard police procedural, if a bit gruesome, but with a cracking good story and some excellent characterisation. DS Lucy Mc Veigh is tasked with solving the case of the Bloodsmith, a serial killer in the fictional town of Oldcastle in Scotland. There is plenty to keep the reader engrossed here, with Mc Bride’s customary writing skill, excellent plotting and absorbing characters. If only the mystery had been solved at the end of that section, this would have been a very satisfying read. However, it went on (and on) on a completely different and much more weird path, to the point where it became difficult to keep track of what was going on, and what was real and what was imagined. Sadly, it just didn’t work for me, and I’m still not entirely sure what happened at the end. Mc Bride writes really excellent murder mysteries, and I’m not sure that this foray into stranger territory has worked for him.

No less the devil - Stuart Macbride

I’m sorry just couldn’t get into this one it did absolutely nothing to grab my attention.

Didn’t finish.

This is a chilling read from the outset with children committing random acts of violence and murder against strangers and as the truth unfolds the horror increases.
Linked somehow to an exclusive school that she missed out on attending due to the exorbitant fees, DS McVeigh finds herself embroiled in "tradition" as she tries to get to the bottom of the recent murders whilst also trying to deal with the recently released child sentenced to murder and now a needy and frightened adult.
A great story.

I've been on the journey with Stuart McBride since his first publication many years ago.
Antone that has read anything by this particular author knows exactly what to expect.
Blood, guts dark humour and graphic details.
No Less The Devil stands the test of any McBride book and whilst if I'm being brutally honest I prefer the Logan McRae ones this is still a ripping yarn in it's own right that reachs a thrilling conclusion.
Well worthy of passing a couple of dark evenings reading

DS Lucy McVeigh and sidekick DC ‘The Dunk’ Fraser have been investigating The Bloodsmith and his murders for the last 17 months with little to go on. At the same time as revisiting old crime scenes, recently released child killer, Benedict Strachten needs Lucy’s help.
A unique standalone crime thriller with plenty of twists, the last quarter of the book goes to an all time new level. Quite a long book, but leads up to an epic ending. Persevere!

I must confess to loving all of Stuart MacBride’s book, and this was no different. Very dark and macabre at times, this book had me gripped and unable to put it down.

A great read!

This books starts out as what could arguably be described as a procedural crime drama, albeit with some great characters in DS Lucy McVeigh and her sidekick ‘The Dunk’. Throw in the mix a complicated serial killer case, a disturbing backstory, and a very intriguing side plot and you are in for a very entertaining read.

But wait, don’t get comfortable, this isn’t going to play out as a run-of-the-mill procedural crime drama.
Nope, things are going to shake up big time. So rapidly and to such extremes that you are going to wonder if you are still enjoying the ride.

Stuart MacBride is definitely pushing the envelope here, and it definitely is entertaining, just not sure how many of his readers will stick along for the ride. I personally can’t wait to learn more about Lucy and what more will transpire in the complicated world in which she finds herself.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this ARC.

I enjoy Stuart MacBride’s books, and was pleased to be approved for this book.

I thought this was quite an enjoyable read initially. It wasn’t one that wowed me or had me desperate to know more though. I liked the main character DS Lucy McVeigh and her DC ‘The Dunk’. DS McVeigh has a good back history and is flawed, very feisty and a good investigator and I loved the witty banter and humour between McVeigh and The Dunk. I thought the story had a good plot line and I enjoyed the little snippets the author gives about McVeighs past and how it has shaped her. The last part of the book took off in a direction that totally threw me, and as I write this review I’m not quite sure what to make of it, and am still mulling it over in my mind. Read the book and you’ll see what I mean. I liked the ending which sets up the next book perfectly and I hope to see The Dunk feature in it alongside McVeigh, and I’d like to see how her character develops.

3.5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for an advance copy of this novel.

As a huge MacBride fan, particularly the brilliant Logan McRae series, I found this a difficult novel to rate. The standalone story features DS Lucy McVeigh, a detective with a troubled past. Her back story is fed through the first part of the novel, written with a typical mix of gruesome darkness and black humour. The characters are as vivid as ever, with a whole new cast to enjoy.

I have two concerns about No Less The Devil. At almost 500 pages , it feels overlong. The story arc is detailed as McVeigh and her mostly useless sidekick The Dunk review a series of murders that have taken place over 18 months, with Oldcastle Police no closer to finding the killer. It feels like this section could have been condensed without losing anything.

Secondly, the final section of the book is different to anything MacBride has written before. It's impossible to describe without spoilers. But there are hints and clues that build to a very strange ending indeed.

Overall a good book, and great to see an author trying a new direction. But bring back McRae -and soon.

I’m really not sure what to say about this one… I have only previously read one of MacBride’s books ‘The Coffin Makers Garden’ so my experience of the author is limited. However, this novel starts off in a similar vein to that one, two police officers trying to solve a crime that has been unsolved for a long time. But then the book starts to get very strange indeed and at times I wasn’t sure I even understood what was happening of where the story was going.
I actually felt like maybe it was a bit too absurd at times?
Don’t get me wrong I definitely enjoyed it as who doesn’t like a good crime thriller but I have definitely been left feeling very confused. I think I need a follow up so some questions about the main character can be answered.

This was my first Stuart MacBride book, and I really enjoyed the first ¾ of the book, and loved the working relationshp between Lucy & her partner, the Dunk. They were hunting the 'Bloodsmith' who had commited a number of murders, leaving his calling card message of 'HELP ME', painted in his victim's blood, on the wall of each crime scene
The story was good, but I must admit to finding the last ¼ really confusing, and I started to lose interest.
I would read more of the author, but just hope the story doesn't veer off in a different direction like this one did.

I have a mixed view of this book, in the beginning I felt it needed tighter editing then came an interesting angle that compelled me to continue reading and the bits that annoyed me drifted away.

The premise, a good old cop story, a female dectective trying to crack the case of a serial killer. As you cheer for the cops one minute, there becomes monets when you questions their integrity the next.

Can they catch the killer or will there be more deaths along the way?

I’ve read many Stuart MacBride books in the past and this is right up there among the best. The Bloodsmith has been terrorizing the public for over seventeen months and the police operation Maypole has nothing to show for their investigation. DS Lucy McVeigh and her sidekick DC Duncan Fraser are returning to the scenes of the crimes hoping to find something to help turn the investigation round, but Lucy has other things on her mind. She thinks she is being followed, she is being targeted by the family of a former suspect and to top it all Benedict Strachan has been released from jail and turns to Lucy to ask for help as he thinks that “They” are out to get him. Just who is it who is being paranoid?
The story spins along at a cracking pace and develops some interesting twists.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read more about DS McVeigh.

Let me start by saying I have read all of Stuart MacBride’s books and especially enjoy the Logan McRae series of novels, however some of his recent Ash Henderson books I’ve found difficult to get into. With his new book ‘No Less the Devil’ I thought we were heading down a similar road, the police procedural plot line, the good but troubled cop, the nice but dim cop & of course a series of brutal murders, all I can say is how wrong I was. This is an excellent stand alone novel with twists & turns galore that just add an extra layer of depth to the story. I’m not going to spoil the plot line and I’m sure some readers will guess some of the turns along the way, however I don’t believe anyone with see the twists and emotional roller-coaster of the last third of the novel.
I hope that his is a start of a series of books with Lucy McVeigh, if so I cannot wait for the next instalment.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Stuart MacBride for a copy of No Less The Devil for an honest review.

I had two books I had to read and chose the other book first - my mistake. It took me awhile to actually start reading this one. Once I started I loved it. Lucy and The Dunk work well together and I loved the sense of humour from the author and the way he wrote the book.

I got about 70% through the book and had already allocated 5 stars for this one because I absolutely loved it and could not see how the book still had so many more pages to read when it could have been wrapped up in another 10 pages and would have been a fantastic read with the opportunity of many more sequels to follow.. However, the book then went off at a tangent and it was difficult to know what was truth and what was imagination..

The last 30% I would have only given a 2 (or possibly 3) star rating, so combining it all I will give this one a 4 star.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this novel. Having read many of Stuart MacBride's previous novels from the Logan McRae series, I was really looking forward to reading this new book. The author writes police procedurals in an engaging and amusing way, which really draws the reader in. So far, so good for the first 75% or so, with some laugh out loud moments which are always found in MacBride's witty writing. However, the book then took a really odd turn which I found totally baffling and seemed almost like a completely different and very unsatisfactory book. I will quite happily reread the author's older books, but not this one.

A fantastic thriller with so many twists and turns that you start to question yourself as well as the characters. Absolutely gripping!