The Running of the Deer

The Craig Crime Series #18

by Catriona King

When a teenager is found dead in remote woodland in County Tyrone, the Belfast Murder Squad is called to investigate. It leads Craig and his team into a dark world of sacrifice and tortured psyches that tracks over forty years, a world where greed, abuse and hedonism all play their part.

Meanwhile, Craig fails to see that there are things in his personal life that have the potential to destroy his world, and Liam’s night time activities become the subject of a bet.

THE RUNNING OF THE DEER: Youth can be wild.


The Books in the Craig Crime Series may be read as a series or as standalone novels.

Now complete the The Craig Crime Series:


A Limited Justice
The Grass Tattoo
The Visitor
The Waiting Room
The Broken Shore
The Slowest Cut
The Coercion Key
The Careless Word
The History Suite
The Sixth Estate
The Sect
The Keeper
The Talion Code
The Tribes
The Pact
The Cabal
The Killing Year
The Running of the Deer

359 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 10, 2018

About the author

Catriona King is a doctor and NHS Manager. She was raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland and moved to central London to live and work as a Doctor, where she trained as a police Forensic Medical examiner. She worked closely with the Metropolitan Police on many occasions, and encountered many fascinating people and situations, in both Belfast and London. In recent years, she has lived and worked in Belfast, basing her D.C.I. Craig crime novels in the streets of modern Belfast and Northern Ireland, and locating the fictitious crime headquarters of 'Docklands Coordinated Crime Unit' in one of Belfast's most colourful and oldest districts, Sailortown. Catriona has written since childhood, fiction, fact and reporting. 'A Limited Justice' is her first novel, released on Kindle on 24th August 2012 and in paperback on the 26th October to Five Star Reviews. It follows Detective Chief Inspector Marc Craig and his team, in the hunt for the killer of three people.
There are four further novels in the D.C.I. Craig series: 'The Grass Tattoo', 'The Visitor', 'The Waiting Room' and the fifth book in the Craig Series 'The Broken Shore' released in December 2013. All are available in paperback and e-book. Catriona's sixth novel, 'The Carbon Trail' a standalone espionage thriller set in New York City, will be released in April 2014. Books six and seven in the Craig series called 'The Slowest Cut' and 'The Coercion Key' respectively are currently in edits for release in 2014.
Catriona is active on both Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CatrionaKing... and Twitter https://twitter.com/CatrionaKing1 where she engages about her books. Her website is www.catrionakingbooks.com
Books can be purchased on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and many other sites http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_nos...

Reviews

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Adults Do “Lord of the Flies”

3.5 stars
I wanted to try a new-to-me author, so I chose this police procedural set in Belfast after the Troubles. I was intrigued by the first chapter’s “Lord of the Flies” atmosphere. This chilling inciting-incident is offset by Chapter 2 and its fraternal ambiance of men-and-their-toys banter amongst male and female members of the Belfast Murder Squad. By chapter’s end, the detectives are off to their hunt, and I was hooked.
The storyline is complicated, but the threads are carefully woven, so I enjoyed following the Murder Squad’s investigation. There are a multitude of characters, but the police personnel are richly imagined, and I was able to track the secondary and tertiary characters without problems.
The author allowed me to see the acres of forests, the eerie clearing, huge family mansions, and the strangeness of Appside Down—stark contrasts to Belfast’s bleak housing blocks, urban schools, easily manipulated throw-away kids and runaways, etc.
Many personal stories, family melodrama, and longer periods of banter among police personnel were distracting, slowed momentum and detracted from the main storyline. I skipped the marriage/psychological melodrama, which had no impact upon the primary story.
The prior Murder Squad case and the narcissistic murderer, various reporters, and prosecutors are still in the picture. Again, I believe less is more. I skipped the sections about the angst at the newspaper.
Although the aforementioned slowed the pace, I did enjoy the book overall, so I will read a few more books in the Craig Crime Series.

There are no overt sex scenes. Deer and humans die horribly but not in-your-face. For a police procedural, there’s not as much NSFW language, especially when compared to many American procedurals.

[James W. Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great story keeps you guessing. She does not let us down, the team are all involved in solving this ,what was the significance of the 10 deers heads. Read and see all the twists and turns

I enjoy her books so much as all previous books all have brilliant unique twists and turns. With a crime like this it brings out the best in the team

[Gary Van Cott · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A little better than the previous book but not much. Tends toward the tedious with some things unexplained. Still not nearly enough of the Craig family and virtually none of issues from the "troubles."

[JA · Rating 5 out of 5]

They just get better

and better. Great character development and really interesting stories make all these Marc Craig books fly by. I hope there will be a 19 and that Ms King keeps them coming....

[Linda Bunce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Story!

I have read every Craig Crime Series book and they get better and better with each one. Keep the coming!!

[Mary McCaffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series, only character that is not sympathetic is the pathologist's wife, she seriously needs help.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series!

The characters get more fleshed out as the books continue, and you find yourself enmeshed in their worlds. Great series@