Neil Lancaster's picture
605 followers
1,372 books added

Neil Lancaster


UK flag

Neil Lancaster was born in Liverpool in the 1960s. He recently left the Metropolitan Police where he served for over twenty-five years, predominantly as a detective, leading and conducting investigations into some of the most serious criminals across the UK and beyond.

Neil acted as a surveillance and covert policing specialist, using all types of techniques to arrest and prosecute drug dealers, human traffickers, fraudsters, and murderers. During his career, he successfully prosecuted several wealthy and corrupt members of the legal profession who were involved in organised immigration crime. These prosecutions led to jail sentences, multi-million pound asset confiscations and disbarments.

Since retiring from the Metropolitan Police, Neil has relocated to the Scottish Highlands with his wife and son, where he mixes freelance investigations with writing.
 


Genres: Mystery
 
New and upcoming books
March 2026

thumb
The Dark Heart
(DS Max Craigie, book 7)
Series
Tom Novak
   1. Going Dark (2019)
   2. Going Rogue (2019)
   3. Going Back (2020)
thumbthumbthumb
 
DS Max Craigie
   1. Dead Man's Grave (2021)
   2. The Blood Tide (2022)
   3. The Night Watch (2022)
   4. Blood Runs Cold (2023)
   5. The Devil You Know (2024)
   6. When Shadows Fall (2025)
   7. The Dark Heart (2026)
thumbthumbthumbthumb
thumbthumbthumb
 
Books containing stories by Neil Lancaster
thumb
Noir from the Bar (2020)
30 Crime and Mystery Shorts
edited by
Simon Bewick and Vic Watson

Award nominations
2022 McIlvanney Prize (nominee) : The Blood Tide
2021 McIlvanney Prize (nominee) : Dead Man's Grave


Neil Lancaster recommends
thumb
The Cut Throat Trial (2025)
S J Fleet
"Like a front row seat at a hotly contested murder trial. Fast, furious, fascinating and impeccably plotted . . . Legal thrillers don't get better than this!"
thumb
Into the Fire (2025)
G D Wright
"A tour-de-force of pace, nerve shredding tension."
thumb
Five by Five (2024)
Claire Wilson
"Raw, brutal, claustrophobic, fast and impossible to put down. Written by someone who's walked the walk and seen the prison system close up."

More recommendations 


Visitors also looked at these authors


About Fantastic Fiction       Information for Authors