It's been seventeen months since the Bloodsmith butchered his first victim and Operation Maypole is still no nearer catching him. The media is whipping up a storm, the top brass are demanding results, but the investigation is sinking fast.

Now isn't the time to get distracted with other cases, but Detective Sergeant Lucy McVeigh doesn't have much choice. When Benedict Strachan was just eleven, he hunted down and killed a homeless man. No one's ever figured out why Benedict did it, but now, after sixteen 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 he really is caught up in something bigger and darker than Lucy's ever dealt with before? What if the Bloodsmith isn't the only monster out there? And what's going to happen when Lucy goes after them?

The stunning new thriller featuring Ash Henderson from No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller Stuart MacBride.

As a massive storm batters the Scottish coast, Gordon Smith's home is falling into the North Sea. But the crumbling headland has revealed what he's got buried in his garden: human remains.

With the storm still raging, it's too dangerous to retrieve the bodies and waves are devouring the evidence. Which means no one knows how many people Smith's already killed and how many more he'll kill if he can't be stopped.

The media are baying for blood, the top brass are after a scapegoat, and ex-Detective Inspector Ash Henderson is done playing nice. He's got a killer to catch, and God help anyone who gets in his way.

How can you tell who did it when everyone is guilty?

It was supposed to be a simple delivery job for DI Victoria Montgomery-Porter and her sidekick, Edward Reekie - pick up a prisoner from HMP Grampian and take them to their new state-funded home - but life's never that straightforward.

From the outside, Glenfarach looks like a quaint, sleepy, snow-dusted village, nestled in the heart of Cairngorms National Park. But things aren't quite what they seem. The place is thick with security cameras, it doesn't appear on any modern map, and there's a strict nine-o'clock curfew, because Glenfarach is the last resort for criminals who've served their sentences but can't be safely released into the general population.

Victoria's just supposed to drop her 'guest' off and head back to Aberdeen, before the approaching blizzards shut everything down, but when an ex-cop-turned-gangster is discovered skinned alive in his bungalow, someone needs to take charge.

The weather's closing in, tensions are mounting, and time's running out - something nasty has come to Glenfarach, and Victoria is standing right in its way...

It was supposed to be an easy job. All Detective Constable Edward Reekie had to do was pick up a dying prisoner from HMP Grampian and deliver him somewhere to live out his last few months in peace. From the outside, Glenfarach looks like a quaint, sleepy, snow-dusted village, nestled deep in the heart of Cairngorms National Park, but things aren't what they seem. The place is thick with security cameras and there's a strict nine o'clock curfew, because Glenfarach is the final sanctuary for people who've served their sentences but can't be safely released into the general population. Edward's new boss, DI Montgomery-Porter, insists they head back to Aberdeen before the approaching blizzards shut everything down, but when an ex-cop-turned-gangster is discovered tortured to death in his bungalow, someone needs to take charge. The weather's closing in, tensions are mounting, and time's running out - something nasty has come to Glenfarach, and Edward is standing right in its way...

AN INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER. What readers are saying about No Less the Devil: 'Ratchets up the tension and keeps it there' ***** 'The plot twist is divine' ***** 'The last quarter of the book goes to an all-time new level' ***** 'MacBride is an absolute master of understated dark humour' ***** 'We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell.' It's been seventeen months since the Bloodsmith butchered his first victim and Operation Maypole is still no nearer to catching him. The media is whipping up a storm, the top brass are demanding results, but the investigation is sinking fast. Now isn't the time to get distracted with other cases, but Detective Sergeant Lucy McVeigh doesn't have much choice. When Benedict Strachan was just eleven, he hunted down and killed a homeless man. No one's ever figured out why Benedict did it, but now, after sixteen 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 he really is caught up in something bigger and darker than Lucy's ever dealt with before? What if the Bloodsmith isn't the only monster out there? And what's going to happen when Lucy goes after them? ________ 'Stuart MacBride is an automatic must-read for me... always fast, hard, authentic - and different' LEE CHILD 'There can be no question that MacBride is one of this country's finest crime writers' DAILY MAIL 'Wow. What a ride! Exceptional. A must read.' DEBORAH MASSON

A brilliantly twisty, 80-page novella from the No. 1 bestselling author of the Logan McRae series. Including an extract from his new Logan novel, THE MISSING AND THE DEAD. It's the night of the big Referendum, and all Acting Detective Inspector Logan McRae has to do is find a missing 'No' campaigner. Should be easy enough... But, as usual, DCI Steel has plans of her own. As the votes are counted there's trouble brewing in the pubs and on the streets of Aberdeen. Logan's picked up a promising lead, but all is not quite what it seems, and things are about to go very, very wrong...

THE UNPUTDOWNABLE, UNMISSABLE NEW THRILLER FROM THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR. It was supposed to be an easy job. All Detective Constable Edward Reekie had to do was pick up a dying prisoner from HMP Grampian and deliver him somewhere to live out his last few months in peace. From the outside, Glenfarach looks like a quaint, sleepy, snow-dusted village, nestled deep in the heart of Cairngorms National Park, but things aren't what they seem. The place is thick with security cameras and there's a strict nine o'clock curfew, because Glenfarach is the final sanctuary for people who've served their sentences but can't be safely released into the general population. Edward's new boss, DI Montgomery-Porter, insists they head back to Aberdeen before the approaching blizzards shut everything down, but when an ex-cop-turned-gangster is discovered tortured to death in his bungalow, someone needs to take charge. The weather's closing in, tensions are mounting, and time's running out - something nasty has come to Glenfarach, and Edward is standing right in its way... ****** Praise for Stuart MacBride: 'A magnetic mix of creepy places, dark humour, horror and violence' Sun 'Dark and brilliantly written' Linwood Barclay 'MacBride is a damned fine writer' Peter James 'MacBride's thrillers just keep getting better' Express 'Crime fiction of the highest order' Mark Billingham ***AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW***

A Sunday Times bestseller for the w/c 11th January 2021 A house of secrets... As a massive storm batters the Scottish coast, Gordon Smith's home is falling into the sea. The trouble is: that's where he's been hiding the bodies. A killer on the run... It's too dangerous to go near the place, so there's no way of knowing how many people he's murdered. Or how many more he'll kill before he's caught. An investigator with nothing to lose... As more horrors are discovered, ex-detective Ash Henderson is done playing nice. He's got a killer to catch, and God help anyone who gets in his way. 'Stuart MacBride's deft plotting and whipcrack dialogue, along with a strong sense of place, make The Coffinmaker's Garden a must read. If you like your serial killers with lashings of dark humour, this is for you' Peter Robinson, no. 1 bestselling author of the DCI Banks series 'The Coffinmaker's Garden is brilliantly creepy, with the most cleverly conceived crime scene I've ever read. His legions of fans will love this - it's an unmistakable Stuart MacBride cocktail of dark violence and even darker humour' Jane Casey, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Cutting Place

A Sunday Times bestseller for the w/c 11th January 2021 A house of secrets... As a massive storm batters the Scottish coast, Gordon Smith's home is falling into the sea. The trouble is: that's where he's been hiding the bodies. A killer on the run... It's too dangerous to go near the place, so there's no way of knowing how many people he's murdered. Or how many more he'll kill before he's caught. An investigator with nothing to lose... As more horrors are discovered, ex-detective Ash Henderson is done playing nice. He's got a killer to catch, and God help anyone who gets in his way. 'Stuart MacBride's deft plotting and whipcrack dialogue, along with a strong sense of place, make The Coffinmaker's Garden a must read. If you like your serial killers with lashings of dark humour, this is for you' Peter Robinson, no. 1 bestselling author of the DCI Banks series 'The Coffinmaker's Garden is brilliantly creepy, with the most cleverly conceived crime scene I've ever read. His legions of fans will love this - it's an unmistakable Stuart MacBride cocktail of dark violence and even darker humour' Jane Casey, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Cutting Place

A gripping serial killer thriller with a twist - from No. 1 bestseller Stuart MacBride This time the serial killer picked the wrong family... 'MacBride is a damned fine writer' Peter James They call him Sawbones: a serial killer touring America kidnapping young women. The FBI's investigating - but getting nowhere. The latest victim is Laura Jones. Sixteen years old. Pretty. Blonde. And the daughter of one of New York's most notorious gangsters. Laura's Dad doesn't care about the law. What he wants is revenge. And he knows just the guys to get it. This time, Sawbones picked on the wrong family...

Stuart MacBride s Number One bestselling crime series opens with this award-winning debut. DS Logan McRae and the police in Aberdeen hunt a child killer who stalks the frozen streets.

Winter in Aberdeen: murder, mayhem and terrible weather

It s DS Logan McRae s first day back on the job after a year off on the sick, and it couldn t get much worse. Three-year-old David Reid s body is discovered in a ditch, strangled, mutilated and a long time dead. And he s only the first. There s a serial killer stalking the Granite City and the local media are baying for blood.

Soon the dead are piling up in the morgue almost as fast as the snow on the streets, and Logan knows time is running out. More children are going missing. More are going to die. And if Logan isn t careful, he could end up joining them "

The ninth Logan McRae thriller from the No. 1 bestseller Stuart MacBride. 'Dark and griping. A riveting page-turner' Independent on Sunday One mistake can cost you everything... A little girl's body washes up just outside the sleepy coastal town of Macduff, kicking off a major manhunt. Officially, the investigation is out of Sergeant Logan McRae's hands, but DCI Steel's Major Investigation Team, drafted in from Aberdeen, is getting nowhere fast. Steel is running out of ideas and time. She wants Logan back on her team, and doesn't care how she gets him there. One thing is clear: there are dangerous predators lurking in the wilds of Aberdeenshire, and not everyone's getting out of this alive...

WINNER OF THE CWA SHORT STORY DAGGER In Bloody Scotland a selection of Scotland's best crime writers use the sinister side of the country's built heritage in stories that are by turns gripping, chilling and redemptive. Stellar contributors Val McDermid, Chris Brookmyre, Denise Mina, Ann Cleeves, Louise Welsh, Lin Anderson, Doug Johnstone, Gordon Brown, Craig Robertson, E S Thomson, Sara Sheridan and Stuart MacBride explore the thrilling potential of Scotland's iconic sites and structures. From murder in an ancient broch and a macabre tale of revenge among the furious clamour of an eighteenth century mill, to a dark psychological thriller set within the tourist throng of Edinburgh Castle and a rivalry turning fatal in the concrete galleries of an abandoned modernist ruin, this collection uncovers the intimate - and deadly - connections between people and places. Prepare for a dangerous journey into the dark shadows of our nation's buildings - where passion, fury, desire and death collide.

A heart-stopping crime thriller and the fourth consecutive No. 1 Bestseller from the author of the Logan McRae series and Birthdays for the Dead. He's back... Eight years ago, 'The Inside Man' murdered four women and left three more in critical condition - all of them with their stomachs slit open and a plastic doll stitched inside. And then the killer just ... disappeared. Ash Henderson was a Detective Inspector on the initial investigation, but a lot can change in eight years. His family has been destroyed, his career is in tatters, and one of Oldcastle's most vicious criminals is making sure he spends the rest of his life in prison. Now a nurse has turned up dead, a plastic doll buried beneath her skin, and it looks as if Ash might finally get a shot at redemption. At earning his freedom. At revenge.

The Number One bestselling detective series from the award-winning Stuart MacBride continues in this second crime thriller. It s summertime in Scotland: the sun is shining, the sky is blue and people are dying

She s just the first. How many more will die?

It starts with Rosie Williams, a prostitute, stripped naked and beaten to death down by the docks the heart of Aberdeen s red light district. For DS Logan McRae it s a bad start to another bad day.

Rosie won t be the only one making an unscheduled trip to the morgue. Across the city six people are burning to death in a petrol-soaked squat, the doors and windows screwed shut from the outside. And despite Logan s best efforts, it s not long before another prostitute turns up on the slab

An unputdownable serial killer tale packed with mystery and suspense, as well as Stuart MacBride s distinctive grittiness and dark humour."

She can't prove he did it. But she might die trying... From the Sunday Times No.1 bestselling author of the Logan McRae series, comes a standalone spinoff featuring DS Roberta Steel. Revenge is a dangerous thing... Detective Chief Inspector Roberta Steel got caught fitting up Jack Wallace - that's why they demoted her and quashed his sentence. Now he's back on the streets and women are being attacked again. The top brass have made it very clear that if Detective Sergeant Steel goes anywhere near him, she'll be thrown off the force for good. But she can't just do nothing - if she does he'll keep hurting women. The question is: how much is she willing to sacrifice to stop him?

The tenth Logan McRae novel from the No.1 Sunday Times bestselling author. Scottish crime fiction at its very best. Some things just won't stay buried... When Detective Inspector Bell turns up dead in a crashed car, it's a shock to everyone. Because Bell died two years ago. Or at least they thought he did. Now Inspector Logan McRae has to work out where DI Bell's been all this time - and what was so important that he felt the need to come back from the dead. But the deeper Logan digs, the more bones he uncovers. And there are people out there who'll kill to keep those skeletons buried...

THE SUNDAY TIMES NO. 1 BESTSELLER The tenth Logan McRae novel from the No. 1 bestselling author. 'Top drawer ... his most epic outing yet' Independent Trouble is coming... Sergeant Logan McRae's team find a body dumped in the woods - but is it the missing businessman they've been searching for, or something far more sinister? It doesn't help that his ex-boss is taking over the case, a new Superintendent has it in for him, and Professional Standards are looming. Even worse: Aberdeen's criminal overlord, Wee Hamish Mowat, is dying and rival gangs all over the UK are eying his territory. There's a war brewing and Logan's trapped right in the middle, whether he likes it or not.

The Number One bestselling detective series. Nothing keeps a crime hidden like fear, and DS Logan McRae hits a dead-end in this 5th crime thriller from the award-winning Stuart MacBride.

You can t be an eyewitness if I cut out your eyes

Someone s preying on Aberdeen s growing Polish population. The pattern is always the same: men abandoned on building sites, barely alive, their eyes gouged out and the sockets burned.

With the victims too scared to talk, and the only witness a paedophile who s on the run, Grampian Police is getting nowhere fast. The attacks are brutal, they keep on happening, and soon DS Logan McRae will have to decide how far he s prepared to bend the rules to get a result.

The Granite City is on the brink of gang warfare; the investigating team are dogged by allegations of corruption; and Logan s about to come to the attention of Aberdeen s most notorious crime lord "

The Number One bestselling crime series from the award-winning Stuart MacBride. In this third DS Logan McRae thriller, The Granite City s seedy side is about to be exposed

A crime of passion, or cold-hearted murder?

A serial rapist is leaving a string of tortured women behind him, but while DS Logan McRae s girlfriend, PC Jackie Ball Breaker Watson, is out acting as bait, he s trying to identify a blood-drenched body dumped outside Accident and Emergency.

Logan s investigations suggest someone in the local bondage community has developed a taste for violent death, and he soon finds himself dragged into the twilight world of pornographers, sex-shops and S&M.

Meanwhile, the prime suspect in the rape case turns out to be Aberdeen Football Club s star striker, and he has an alibi for every attack. Logan thinks they ve got it horribly wrong, but can he get anyone to listen before the real rapist strikes again? Especially as Jackie is convinced the footballer s guilty and she s hell-bent on a conviction at any cost "

A gripping standalone thriller from the Sunday Times No.1 bestselling author of the Logan McRae series. Beware of the dark… Welcome to the Misfit Mob – where Police Scotland dumps the officers it can’t get rid of, but wants to. Officers like DC Callum MacGregor, lumbered with all the boring go-nowhere cases. So when an ancient mummy is found at the Oldcastle tip, it’s his job to track down its owner. But then Callum uncovers links between his mummified corpse and three missing young men, and life starts to get a lot more interesting. No one expects the Misfit Mob to solve anything, but right now they’re all that stands between a killer’s victims and a slow lingering death. Can they prove everyone wrong before someone else dies?

The 4th thriller in the Number One bestselling crime series from the award-winning Stuart MacBride. Panic grips The Granite City as DS Logan McRae heads up a manhunt for The Flesher one of the UK s most notorious serial killers.

The case was closed. Until the killer walked free

When an offshore container turns up at Aberdeen Harbour full of human meat, it kicks off the largest manhunt in the Granite City s history.

Twenty years ago The Flesher was butchering people all over the UK turning victims into oven-ready joints until Grampian s finest put him away. But eleven years later he was out on appeal. Now he s missing and people are dying again.

When members of the original investigation start to disappear, Detective Sergeant Logan McRae realizes the case might not be as clear cut as everyone thinks

Twenty years of secrets and lies are being dragged into the light. And the only thing that s certain is Aberdeen will never be the same again."

Twelve years. Twelve dead girls. Thirteen will be unlucky for some. The Number One bestselling crime thriller from the award-winning Stuart MacBride. A bloody, brilliant and brutal story of murder, kidnap and revenge. Detective Constable Ash Henderson has a dark secret... Five years ago his daughter, Rebecca, went missing on the eve of her thirteenth birthday. A year later the first card arrived: home-made, with a Polaroid picture stuck to the front - Rebecca, strapped to a chair, gagged and terrified. Every year another card: each one worse than the last. The tabloids call him 'The Birthday Boy'. He's been snatching girls for twelve years, always just before their thirteenth birthday, killing them slowly, then torturing their families with his homemade cards. But Ash hasn't told anyone what really happened to Rebecca - they all think she ran away - because if anyone finds out, he'll be taken off the investigation. And he's sacrificed too much to give up before his daughter's murderer gets what he deserves...

The eighth Logan McRae novel in the No.1 bestselling crime series from Stuart MacBride. Every murder tells a story. But not every victim tells the truth. 'A terrific writer ... McRae is a delight' The Times Sticks and stones may break your bones... The first body is chained to a stake: strangled, and stabbed, with a burning tyre around its neck. But is this a gangland execution or something much darker? Someone's leaving little knots of bones on DI Logan McRae's doorstep, but he's got bigger concerns. Rival drug gangs are fighting over product and territory; two teenage lovers are missing; someone's crippling Asian immigrants; and Logan's been lumbered with an ambitious new Detective Sergeant and gained the unwelcome attention of the local crime boss. When another body turns up, the similarities between these murders and the plot of a bestselling novel seem like more than just a coincidence. And perhaps those little knots of bones are more important than they look...

The Number One bestselling crime series from the award-winning Stuart MacBride. In this sixth DS Logan McRae thriller, Scotland s finest see first-hand how starting again can be murder

Everyone deserves a second chance.

Richard Knox has served his time, so why shouldn t he be allowed to live wherever he wants? Yes, in the past he was a violent rapist, but he s seen the error of his ways. Found God. Wants to leave his dark past in Newcastle behind him and make a new start. Or so he says.

Detective Sergeant Logan McRae isn t exactly thrilled to be part of the team helping Knox settle into his new Aberdeen home. He s even less thrilled to be stuck with DSI Danby from Northumbria Police the man who put Knox behind bars for ten years supposedly here to keep an eye on things .

Only things are about to go very, very wrong.

Edinburgh gangster Malk the Knife wants a slice of the development boom Donald Trump s golf course is bringing to the Granite City, whether local crime lord Wee Hamish Mowat likes it or not. Three heavies from Newcastle want a quiet word with DSI Danby about a missing mob accountant. And Richard Knox s dark past isn t done with him yet "