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Writer's pictureKirsty Whitlock

'Run To Ground' by Stuart Johnstone

Book Description


Don Colyear has made the transition from his role as a Community Police Sergeant to a new position in Edinburgh's CID, but the adjustment has not been easy. The workload and paperwork are one thing but being micro-managed by DCI Templeton as well is more than testing.



And when Colyear's investigation into a mysterious death spirals into a complicated case centred on a massive consignment of Class A drugs, a double murder and a clash between low-level and professional criminals, his instincts are put to the test.




BLOG TOUR REVIEW 


Review for 'Run To Ground' by Stuart Johnstone. 


Read and reviewed for Stuart Johnstone, NetGalley and Allison & Busby publishers. 


Publication date 17th November 2022. 


This is the first book I have read by this author. It is also third book in the 'Sergeant Don Colyear' series but can be read as a standalone. 



I was originally drawn to this book by its  eye catching cover and intriguing sounding synopsis and title. I  must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Allison & Busby. I have yet to read a book published by Allison & Busby that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book). 




This novel consists of 33 chapters. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!




This book is based in Edinburgh, Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, UK 🇬🇧. The bonus for me of books that are partly or fully based in the UK is that I live in the UK and have sometimes visited places mentioned in the book which makes it easier to picture.




This book is written in a mix of first and third person perspective with the main protagonist being DS Don Colyear with several other protagonists. The benefits of books written in first person perspective are as long as they are well written it makes you feel that you are being spoken to by the protagonist and it can create more of a bond between yourselves and them. If there are several protagonists you also get to see more of what is going on. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything. To have the benefit of both first and third person perspective ensures you don't miss out on anything.



This book is extremely well written with vivid descriptions that really set the scene and kept me on the edge of my seat. The cover and synopsis suited the storyline perfectly. 



WOW!! What an explosive book in what promises to be an epic series!!!



What an absolutely addictive page turner!! It may be the first book I have read by Stuart but I can promise you it won't be the last!!! As soon as I've written this up I'm off to add all his books to my wishlist. This book is an absolutely fantastic and explosive start (for me as it is the third book in the series) to what promises to be an addictive series!! I was completely sucked into the pages from start to finish and was gutted when it came to an end! The storyline is multi-layered and absolutely ram packed with mystery, deceit, murder, secrets, lies,  tension and suspense. I love the fact that although this is a crime thriller there is some light hearted moments throughout which had me laughing out loud on several occasions!! I also enjoyed the fact that there wasnt just the main storyline but plenty of other events going on to absolutely grip the readers attention. I enjoyed looking into the lives of several of the characters. I really enjoyed the setting of this book and I cannot wait to read the past and future books in this series. It is an extremely gripping and addictive storyline and I was sucked in immediately from the very first page to the last. The storyline was believable and I cannot wait to get stuck into the rest of the books in this series. 


Although this is the third book in the series I had absolutely no problems reading it without the others. Any details or events that have previously happened are mentioned in just the right amount of detail to let a new reader know what has happened and yet not too much to bore a previous reader.



DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT READING THIS UNTIL YOU HAVE CLEARED YOUR SCHEDULES AS YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PUT IT DOWN!!!  




It is always worrying when starting a new series as you have no idea who the characters are. It is very important for me to bond with not only the lead protagonists but I also find it important that I bond with the rest of the team members. This was definitely not a problem for me in this book and I'm looking forward to meeting them all again. 



I wasn't just 100% invested in the storyline but also in the characters. Every single one of the characters were well defined, realistic and strong. The character development was strong throughout and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Don and the rest of the team. I really liked DS Don Colyear and loved how well he worked with his team. Don is down to Earth, has a good sense of humour and is a great team player. I loved the touches of humour with his team which is always great to see in crime thrillers as its nice to see it lighten the mood between crime sometimes. I enjoyed watching his relationship with his partner TDC  Rowan Forbes develop and change throughout this book. I cannot wait to meet most of these characters again in both past and future books in what is promising to be an addictive and gritty series. 



A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Stuart on what promises to be an absolutely addictive series!!! I cannot wait to see what Don  gets up to next! Welcome to my favourite author list Stuart and here's to your next explosive success 🥂!!! 



Overall an explosive book in a promising new series and an absolutely addictive action packed page turner that will keep you hooked until you've finished!!! 




Genres covered in this book include Crime Thriller, Mystery, Thriller , Suspense, Crime Fiction, Police Procedural, Scottish Crime, Noir Crime, British Detective Stories, Modern Crime, Fiction and Thriller amongst others. 




336 pages.



This book is just £6.99 to purchase on kindle and £8.99 for paperback via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!! 



 


Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook. 




Feel free to add me on Goodreads or follow me on my website or Facebook for more reviews 







@RunToGround @SergeantDonColyear @StuartJohnstone @AllisonAndBusby @Allison&Busby @bookworm86 @Bookworm1986 @Goodreads @Netgalley 


















Author Bio


Stuart Johnstone is the author of the Don Colyear crime series. He is based in Edinburgh, Scotland. As well as crime fiction, Stuart also likes to write in other genres, including dystopian and horror. His big break came when he found himself published along side one of his literary heroes, Stephen King.





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