‘We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell.’

The Bloodsmith has been active for seventeen months and there have been no developments in getting closer to catching this depraved serial killer. Operation Maypole is at a stand still and all of the officers involved are frustrated at the lack of progress. Detective Sergeant Lucy McVeigh has recently returned to work after a very traumatic experience and is struggling. When a convicted killer, Benedict turns up at the station looking for her help, claiming that ‘they’ are trying to get rid of him, Lucy is torn between helping him and trying to catch the Bloodsmith. But what if the Bloodsmith isn’t the only monster loose on the streets of Oldcastle?

This is my first MacBride book and as it’s a stand-alone story, it was a good way to delve into his writing. Set in the fictitious city of Oldcastle in Scotland, this setting will be familiar to MacBride fans as it features in his Ash Henderson series. A typical police procedural/detective story, MacBride walks his readers through the cases in quite graphic detail (maybe not the best read for anyone with a sensitive stomach!). MacBride is clearly not afraid to delve into the gory and brutal acts of the Bloodsmith.

The characters in this story can only be described as ‘quirky’. Lucy comes across as a cold, no-fun individual but as the story unfolds, the reader gets to see why she adopts this hardened exterior. Dunk, her partner, brings a comedic element to the book- from the description of his appearance, to his inability to keep up with her out on the streets, he is a breath of fresh air in the story, providing a little bit of relief from the darker aspects of the story. Many of the characters struggle morally with very questionable decisions and actions which have huge repercussions. Benedict is truly a lost soul in this story- his actions as a young boy completely altered his life and it was interesting to get an insight into this aspect of the story, in particular the stigma of being a killer and how no one can escape their past.

The first 80% of the book follows a predictable trajectory but the last 20% is surreal, strange and quite bizarre. You are left with more questions than answers by the end of the book and the last quarter of the story has a real Twin Peaks vibe where everything just gets so strange and weird! I don’t know if I particularly liked the ending- I think it just went so far off the deep end that it didn’t match up with the other sections of the book.

Overall it was an enjoyable read and I really liked the characters. Plenty of plot twists and shock moments throughout. It will definitely stay in your mind afterwards as you try to untangle the last section of the story! Maybe the best advice I can give when reading this book is to suspend your ideas of reality for the final portion! 4 stars

TW: Rape, Sexual Assault, Kidnapping, Gory content.

No Less The Devil is out on the 28th of April. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Oh! my goodness what a plot twister , & at times totally mind blowing with all it's complex twists & turns because of real characters & then those of one of the Main characters imagination . This is a truly gripping psychological thriller with some very creepy & chilling aspects so not a read for the Fainthearted ,if it was a TV series I think some people would either be hiding behind their Sofa or at least a Pillow , So read it if you Dare ??? #GoodReads, #Netgalley, #FB, #Instagram , # Amazon.co.uk, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/358a5cecda71b11036ec19d9f7bf5c96d13e2c55" width="80" height="80" alt="100 Book Reviews" title="100 Book Reviews"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/ef856e6ce35e6d2d729539aa1808a5fb4326a415" width="80" height="80" alt="Reviews Published" title="Reviews Published"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/aa60c7e77cc330186f26ea1f647542df8af8326a" width="80" height="80" alt="Professional Reader" title="Professional Reader"/>.

And its another great book from Stuart MacBride for the first 80% of the book… the last 20% leaves you wondering if you are watching episodes from Dallas which ended up with a certain character in the shower!

I like the fact the book was based in Oldcastle, following on from the Ash Henderson series so the setting seemed somewhat familiar. The characters are good, especially the main 2 main ones Lucy and Dunk. The storyline for the first 80% is very good, it’s the last bit that has you really suspending belief.

I'm a huge fan of Stuart MacBride and was fascinated by the way the author shook the usual crime novel expectations in this story. Two fabulous new characters to enjoy spending time with, and a plot to keep you turning the pages.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

I have mixed feelings about this book. Good stand alone book. It starts off as a usual police procedural story, very well written, interesting story build up and good characters however the last part of the book left me feeling what has happened! At times I was really intrigued and wanted to know what was next but other times I just wanted to finish it. It did appear overall long at times but I feel that this is due to the twists in it. I would recommend it to others as we all have different tastes.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an Arc in exchange for an honest opinion

I have read all of Stuart MacBride's Police Scotland books and really like the quirky police officers who are his characters.
Lucy McVeigh is another officer who has undergone a traumatic incident which affects the way her colleagues react to her and the details if which we don't learn until well into the book.
The story is compelling for the most part. I liked Lucy's determination to help Benedict and to fund the Bloodsmith who had evaded capture fir seventeen months and counting.
That Lucy is damaged by her experiences is obvious and understandable but I felt the revelations about her childhood and her mother's death were perhaps a step too far. Add to that the private and very privileged school, St Nicholas's and the ending just didn't sit right fir me.

It took a while to get into this book, I persevered and after halfway through it grabbed me and from then on it was compelling. Keeps you guessing and once finished you'll be going over in your head where you missed clues.

A good read eventually! Can't say too much as don't do spoilers.

I am a big fan of Stuart McBride and as usual I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book
This Scottish crime thriller introduces two new main characters and I enjoyed their interactions and the dark humour in the book
This is an excellent stand alone novel with fantastic twists and turns and pay attention at the end

Thanks to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Bantam Press and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a review.

I was looking forward to reading this and it didn't disappoint. D S Lucy McVeigh is on the hunt for a serial killer known as the Bloodsmith with her sidekick the Dunk. Dealing with personal issues while hunting for the Blodsmith the pressure starts to mount. Can Lucy hold it all together and solve the case? Only one way to find out. A great read.

I finished 2021 as I started it, reviewing a Stuart MacBride book. No Less the Devil had an excellent storyline. A serial killer, the Bloodsmith is on the loose. Leaving bodies in remote or rarely used places that when discovered left little in the way of clues to find the monster responsible. Elsewhere Benedict Strachan, who as a child murdered a homeless man was living in the community under an assumed name. DS Lucy McVeigh made it her mission to help Benedict with his demons while chasing down the Bloodsmith and even finding time for a little romance along the way. However, this promising book which was fast paced, gripping and tense in the first two thirds of the book suddenly lost its way. This is obviously just my opinion and I understood the reasoning but it was quite frankly bizarre and too far fetched. Several questions remained unanswered and the conclusions seemed rushed and convenient. I feel if the story had played out somewhat differently in the final third, it would have been a cracking read. Sadly, I feel a bit let down and it was not what I expected after reading previous enthralling books by this author.

While I liked No Less the Devil a lot, I can't say that it isn't without its faults, so just the four stars here. The writing for the most part is clean and sharp with characters pretty well fleshed out and crafted with a streak of originality, but there are sections in the last third of the book where things get irritatingly messy.

Early chapters are promising, creating atmosphere and darkness to the point of creepiness. The problems begin with the depictions of the posh school - it's Hogwarts with baddies, just simply not credible - then explode with the psychological issues suffered by the lead character DS Lucy McVeigh. I welcomed the introduction of a storyline dealing with PTSD, childhood trauma and the consequences of repeated head injuries, but the narrative became very confused at some points. I wondered whether the confusion was intentional, and perhaps it is effective at showing a disordered mind at times. However, because I was reading an advance copy in which the dialogue wasn't yet fully edited (regularly running all the dialogue together with little in the way of punctuation), it was frequently difficult to understand which character was talking without re-reading passages.

I hope this gets sorted out in the final version because No Less the Devil is a book with a lot of style and originality and the sense of unfinished business in the final pages has whetted my appetite for a follow-up.

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!

No Less the Devil by Stuart Macbride
I give this book 4 stars

It's been 17 months since the Bloodsmith butchered his first victim and Operation Maypole is still no nearer catching him.
When Benedict Strachan was just 11, he hunted down and killed a homeless man. Now, after after 16 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 the Bloodsmith isn't the only monster out there?

We are introduced to female protagonist Detective Sergeant Lucy McVeigh and her sidekick Dunk in this gritty Scottish Crime thriller. Set post Covid there is an awful lot going on and this is quite a lengthy read.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!!!!
With thanks to Netgally,Stuart Macbride and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Bantam Press for my chance to read and review this book

No Less The Devil introduces us to Lucy McVeigh, a new DS in Stuart MacBride’s Oldcastle, a fictional city halfway between Aberdeen and Dundee in the North East of Scotland. Oldcastle police have been trying to catch the Bloodsmith for the past eighteen months, and are getting nowhere, and it’s looking like the last chance saloon for Operation Maypole. Can DS McVeigh and her DC “The Dunk” track him down before the Bloodsmith kills again?

MacBride’s latest book contains his usual mordant wit, twisted plotting and compelling characters, but I feel it is somewhat let down by the rather unusual conclusion to the investigation. It was a fun journey, but an ultimately unsatisfactory ending.

The Bloodsmith has been active in Oldcastle for 17 months. With a review of the case new clues are discovered by DS Lucy McVeigh and DC Dunc Fergus. As Lucy closes in on a suspect she realises she has a stalker - could it be the Bloodsmith targeting her.

I normally fly through Stuart MacBride books but to be honest I struggled with this one. It was quite a slow read and I didn’t feel it flowed well. The last few chapters just had me confused.

Thanks to Netgalley, Random House and Stuart MacBride for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

DS Lucy McVeigh is working on Operation Maypole, trying to catch the serial killer known as The Bloodsmith. For 17 months he has evaded them and with the media and police bosses demanding results the pressure is really on. Unfortunately, much to her DI’s annoyance, Lucy gets side-tracked when newly released killer Benedict Strachan appears to be preparing to kill again.
Lucy is still suffering the after effects of a traumatic experience and professional standards are following her. She will need to pull out all the stops to catch the Bloodsmith before the whole thing swallows her up whole.

Free with Netgalley

A book of two halves for me. The story is built up around a serial killer called the Bloodsmith, Operation Maypole has been working on the case for 17 months and getting nowhere. DS Lucy McVeigh is on the case and start making progress, when they start from scratch and look at the evidence again.

In the meantime Benedict Strachan has just been released from prison for killing a homeless person when he was 11. He goes to Lucy for help. Is this linked to the serial killer, or is something else going on

The story is exciting, and worth reading until it gets strange and off kilter, when Lucy has some sort of psychotic break down.

I personally think the story would have been better, if it was just played straight and not have all the mental health bit in it. It's a shame as it was on track to be an excellent book instead of just okay.

I am a fan of Stuart McBride's books and wasn't disappointed. A dark and macabre storyline with DS McVeigh and her sidekick leading the investigation provided a great read and one to be recommended.

Operation Maypole is seventeen months running, trying to catch the Bloodsmith. The police are getting nowhere with the case, the media are gleefully pointing this out, and the public are getting worried. Detective Sergeant Lucy McVeigh is put on the case, and it is to be treated as priority. However she finds herself pulled into an old case. Eleven year old Benedict Strachan killed a homeless man, and was sentenced as an adult. He never told anyone why he did it. After serving sixteen years in jail, he is out, but seeking help from ‘Them’.

This book started out as a fairly standard murder/serial killer mystery. Then the old murder case gets worked in, and starts bringing the investigation down some very strange paths. Detective McVeigh is only just signed back on after medical leave, and this starts to bring in some of the gradual unwinding in the story. As all the strands begin to really intertwine, and we are privy to more nuggets of investigation, the waters become more and more clouded. I finished the book and honestly did not know what to make of it. I was confused. Bemused. Disgruntled? Overall, I felt the story had been leading up to a good finish, but I am still not sure it got there. The cumulation of all the twists and turns almost felt disjointed from the rest of the story. The murderer was caught. Or were they??

I love Stuart macbrife & this certainly didn’t disappoint. Bring Scottish I enjoy his dry dialogue & wit. Also references to places I know. I would highly recommend this to anyone another well written amazing read.