Old Bones Lie by Marion Todd is an excellent Scottish police procedural. This is the sixth instalment in the DI Clare Mackay series but it reads well as a stand-alone. However, I now would very much like to read the previous novels. The plot revolves around the disappearance of two prison guards and their prisoner as well as the prison van they had been in. It soon becomes apparent that the guards’ wives are also nowhere to be found. Where could five people have gone? The prisoner had been taken to a family funeral and he attended with his guards. No one saw them again after this. DI Mackay and her detectives will work day and night to uncover the reason for the disappearance of five people. The characters are interesting and realistic. The mystery moves along at a good pace. What kept me from rating Old Bones Lie with five stars was the ending. It was so incomplete and rushed that I found myself turning the page to continue reading. Unfortunately, the next page was the acknowledgements! Marion Todd has written an exciting mystery. Highly recommended. Thank you to Canelo,, NetGalley and the author for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. ( )

crime-fiction, criminal-acts, international-crime-and-mystery, law-enforcement, Scotland, abduction, procedural, detective, escaped-prisoner, family, friction, friendship, murder, murder-investigation, office-politics, small-town, suspense, thriller, threats*****

It starts with the abduction of the wives of two corrections officers followed by those same officers transporting a prisoner to a family funeral during which said prisoner escapes. Turn the page and a jewelry store employee who had been the very one to ID said prisoner after a robbery at the store is found dead at her home. And a large amount of money is found in the compost. In an area near the dead woman's home there have been thefts of very expensive farm equipment and that wants solving as well. Then DI Clare Mackay is told that she will be working under a different DCI for this operation, and he turns out to be a closed mouthed, secretive sort who has his own agenda. AND THEN comes an enormous plot twist! This blessed book kept my nose to the page far into the night!
I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from Canelo via NetGalley. Thank you! ( )

I enjoy police procedurals and reading one set in Scotland is a bonus. This is the fourth Detective Clare Mackey that I have read and it is my least favorite. It plodded and the clues were so obvious to make the story trite. If you ever watched an old melodrama with the villain leering from out behind the curtains or slinking away from the crime scene - well that is how this book read for me. There is a more than an annoying amount of chauvinism, inner office politicking, deception by colleagues and no one fighting to take the high road, plus a very dissatisfying ending left me hoping for more.

Thank you NetGalley and Canelo for a copy ( )

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

This instalment focusses on the escape of a man imprisoned for armed robbery and the murder of the witness who testified against him, with some farm equipment thefts thrown in for good measure. I found this complicated, but I think I have worked out what went on. Clare is asked to pass the search for the escaped prisoner to another senior officer, Ben, (although she is for ever working on that aspect too) and this thread was intriguing, with Ben acting oddly at times.

Another strong instalment in this series. ( )