The Devil Stone

By Caro Ramsay https://www.caroramsay.com/ @CaroRamsayBooks

Published by Canongate Books https://canongate.co.uk/ @canongatebooks

256 pages ISBN 9781838858889

Publication date 31 August 2023

The Devil Stone is the first novel in the DCI Christine Caplan series.

I was allowed access to a pdf review copy on Net Galley https://www.netgalley.com/ @NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. I would like to thank Anne @RandomTTours at Random Things Tours for the invitation to participate in the Blog Tour and of course the Author and Publisher.

The Cover

Quite atmospheric and gives a good sense of the location of the story, the Highlands of Scotland.

From the blurb

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.

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 thoughts

An attention-grabbing start to the story to get the reader fully engaged, as a man goes ‘flying’ from a monument on top of a hill, did he jump or was he pushed? That is only the prologue to whet our appetite.

The story starts properly nine days earlier as two neds break into ‘The Big Hoose’ Otterburn House which is owned by local land-owning gentry the McGregor family. The family is supposed to be on holiday, but their security appears lax as not even the alarm is switched on. The young men ‘Bainsy’ and ‘Scotto’ are searching for the famous Devil Stone, which was once on Antiques Roadshow, rumoured to possess great powers and to bleed when taken from the property. The lads are tempted by the dark side and practice black magic with a group of wannabe satanists, so obtaining the Devil Stone will bring great kudos. Inside the house though they come across much more than they bargained for, the stone has gone and the whole family have been slaughtered. They are startled so much they raise the alarm with local residents who call the police.

DCI Christine Caplan has had rather a bad day and hoped that a night at the ballet with Emma, her daughter, will cheer her up. Christine put her heart and soul into being a ballet dancer, but grew too tall, so Scottish Ballet’s loss became Police Scotland’s gain. It was a bad day because Christine had a disciplinary interview, a piece of evidence had been lost and so she must take responsibility and face the prospect of dropping a rank. It only gets worse as after the performance she tries to intervene with a bag snatcher on a bicycle who collapses and dies in front of her, prompting another internal investigation.

Three disparate events that are about to become intertwined. Following the disappearance of the local SIO, Christine is shunted up to the Highlands to cover the Otterburn House killings, which proves to be a demanding investigation.

The novel title The Devil Stone is certainly arresting and early references to Dennis Wheatley’s The Devil Rides Out and Aleister Crowley had me casting my mind back 40+ years. There was a shelf load of Wheatley’s books in my library, which proved popular and I remember reading 2 or 3, though now they are nowhere to be seen. It seems the modern devil worshipper is more interested in getting drunk and high then stripping off and dancing naked in the woods than summoning Satan, which explains why the lads were keen to get the stone.

Christine is interesting as a character as she battles to do the right thing against a wave of people trying to prevent her. Officers on high are undermining her and she starts to mistrust all those around her, though this is not paranoia, as there is a conspiracy against her. This means even if just for self-protection she must keep her cards close to her chest and of course not follow the rules; cops who go rogue for the right reason are so compelling. Here the author has done a wonderful job of capturing the gamut of emotions that Christine goes through, so getting the reader fully on board with the character. The choice of ballet for the backstory is canny, strip away the surface veneer of glamour and dancers are tough, physically resilient, almost battle hardened in their pursuit of excellence. Just the qualities Christine needs in her struggle against hidden forces.

Being the first in a series there is naturally some boundary setting and this is nicely handled. Her friendship with Lizzie and their connection with ‘the bastard’ John Ferguson adds complexity and texture to the storyline as does the lives of her family. Her husband Aklan was successful but is now a burnt-out shell of a man, depressed and permanently exhausted. He is like the albatross around her neck, but she still loves him dearly. Son Kenny looks like he is heading down the wrong road of self-isolation and video games like the Hikikomori in Japan, but luckily as Robert Plant sang ‘there’s still time to change the road you’re on.’ Daughter Emma is the shining light, thoughtful and caring, and a budding eco-warrior. So, a family life ripe for development in subsequent novels.

Of the police colleagues in the Highlands, Craigo and Mackie are the standout ones simply due to them being oddballs but also inscrutable with it. They provide a breath of fresh air to the procedural side and bring much amusement. The prose and dialogue are sprinkled with such typical words and phrases, this could only be a novel set in Scotland, but without becoming too extreme with the vernacular or dialect. If like me you love Scotland, this will be ideal for you. The humour throughout is perfectly pitched to balance some of the darkness.

It is giving nothing away in saying police corruption plays a part in the storyline, it is vogue in current crime novels but that is only mirroring real life. Here it is skilfully handled, having the reader guessing to the end, at times edging towards the outrageous but at the same time perfectly plausible.

After the brisk start the pace steadies but remains relentless. Even in the quiet spots Christine is picking her battles with others and at times herself. The tension and paranoia build right up to a breathtaking action set piece, one that will have thriller lovers purring with satisfaction, but even then, not all is revealed.

The Devil Stone is a masterful Scottish crime thriller, with the action peppered by deceit and rambunctious confrontations.

The Devil Stone can be purchased from the Bookshop.org here

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.

Don’t forget to check out the other reviews on this Blog Tour: