A macabre massacre of a wealthy family brings DCI Christine Caplan to the Highlands in her first thriller in a new series from master of Tartan Noir, Caro Ramsay. 

In the village of Cronchie, a wealthy family are found brutally murdered. The Devil Stone, an heirloom rumoured to bring death if removed from their home, is the only thing stolen. The key suspects are known satanists. But when the investigating officer disappears, DCI Christine Caplan is pulled in to investigate.

#TheDevilStone @CaroRamsayBooks @canongatebooks #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #BlogTour

Caplan knows she is being punished for a minor misdemeanour when she is seconded to the Highlands, but she’s confident she can quickly solve the murders and return home to her fractious family. But as she closes in on the truth, it is suddenly her life, not her career, that is in danger.

My Review

This was so exciting! It’s my first Caro Ramsay but it won’t be my last. It’s all a bit Line of Duty with bent coppers always being a silent presence in the background. Plus murder, drugs and satanism and you have the perfect combination for a brand new police procedural.

DCI Christine Caplan isn’t always likeable, but then she’s not perfect. An ex-ballet dancer (I know that’s bizarre), slender as a reed, immaculately turned out, hair pulled back into a neat chignon, her home life is complicated. Her husband Aklen has sunk into a deep depression and hasn’t been out for seven years. He sits wrapped in a duvet, watching daytime TV or sleeping. Nineteen-year-old son Kenny is a nightmare, dropping out of university and maxing out his mother’s credit cards. Daughter Emma however, is doing her thesis, is self-sufficient and a bit of an eco-warrior.

Following the brutal death of five members of the same family, Caplan is sent to the village of Cronchie in the remote Highlands to join the team of investigators. She’s not exactly welcomed by the team, who seem to know everything about her. She’s been demoted to DI after losing vital evidence from an investigation, and she is now being accused of hurting a mugger, who died on the scene from what appeared to be the results of taking a new drug called ‘snapdragon’.

The murdered family were three generations of the McGregors, and they just happened to be the richest family in the area. They owned acres of land, a development site and half of the nearby island of Scone, the other half belonging to a retreat – or is it a cult? It also happens to be the place where the youngest son and only survivor Adam McGregor is living.

As far as the local constabulary is concerned, it’s very simple. A couple of local teenage criminals, fuelled by drugs and satanic worship, committed the murders in order to steal the cursed ‘Devil Stone’. But it’s all a bit too neat and Caplan isn’t convinced. With the combined IQ of Vicky Pollard and Mr Bean, and the strength of a small hamster, there is no way they could have masterminded such a slick operation, let alone overpowered the two McGregor men. And now the previous DCI in charge has apparently disappeared off the face of the earth, along with Adam.

Caplan is certain something weird is going on and she’s afraid that someone on the team is trying to stop her from getting at the truth. And that means that it’s not just her reputation on the line any more, her life is also in danger. Brilliant stuff!

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours

About the Author

Caro Ramsay is the Glaswegian author of the critically acclaimed Anderson and Costello series, the first of which, Absolution, was shortlisted for the CWA’s New Blood Dagger for best debut of the year. The ninth book in the series, The Suffering of Strangers, was longlisted for the McIlvanney Prize 2018.