Prayer for the Dead

December 5, 2016
An eerie murder kicks off Oswald’s exciting fifth novel to feature Edinburgh Det. Insp. Tony McLean (after 2016’s Dead Men’s Bones). When newspaper reporter Ben Stevenson is found in a ritualistic pose with his throat cut, it’s not just the brutality of the crime that shocks McLean but the location: Gilmerton Cove, a series of caves and underground passages just below street level. It soon becomes evident that Stevenson was researching the history of secret societies, and McLean reluctantly enlists the help of Stevenson’s journalist colleague, Jo Dagliesh, with whom the detective has been in conflict in the past. As the body count rises, McLean must juggle the increasingly odd case with pleas for help from medium Madam Rose, a friend who’s been receiving violent threats. McLean, an extremely likable cop who’s bemused at how much he frustrates his superiors, is more than up to the task of chasing a particularly strange killer. This series just keeps getting better, and loyal fans and new readers alike will be pleased. Agent: Juliet Mushens, Agency Group (U.K.).

December 15, 2016
Several seemingly unrelated Edinburgh murders just need a little creative thinking to link them. DI Tony McLean seems to get the odd and unusual cases (Dead Men's Bones, 2016, etc.). When Dalgliesh, a tough-as-nails woman journalist he despises (her first name is never used), asks him to help find another reporter who's gone missing, he reluctantly agrees to look for Ben Stevenson. Tony's been putting off meeting the builders who want to repair the apartment house where he lived until he was almost killed in a fire. The father-and-son McClymont team propose plans for a cheap renovation that the independently wealthy Tony refuses to consider despite the large sum of money he's being offered for a buyout. Soon he finds himself harassed along with his transgender medium friend, Madame Rose, who also owns a house the developers want to buy. Meanwhile, the upcoming retirement of Detective Superintendent Duguid has left the murder squad in the middle of a shake-up. Several equally untalented officers are hoping for promotion, but not Tony, whose outspokenness often gets him in trouble. The discovery of Ben Stevenson's body, throat cut and blood drained, in Gilmerton Cove, a network of caves under the streets of Edinburgh, turns the case into a major investigation. With help from Dalgliesh, Tony learns that Ben was working on an odd conspiracy theory. Forensics finds nothing at the scene that can help. When a nurse and a doctor who work at the same hospital are killed, Tony is sure they're connected to Stevenson's murder; Duguid is not convinced the three deaths are related, but he finally lets Tony combine the investigations. The certainty among the organized crime squad that the McClymonts are drug runners tangles Tony's life even further. The truth, when Tony finally works it out, will be more unbelievable than he ever imagined. Yet another police procedural on steroids, a case made even more bizarre by Oswald's trademark hints of the supernatural; impossible to put down.

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January 1, 2017
A nut job is standing over his victim in a chamber in Edinburgh's network of underground caves, ranting, We are here unborn, before bringing knife to throat. So begins Oswald's fifth entry in his series starring Detective Inspector Tony McLean. The novels are labeled procedurals, which here means offering insight into the corporatization of police work. These cops spend less time investigating than sitting around an office talking about investigating. Two more grisly murders occur, each followed by a raft of meetings, each one soaked in in-house politics. Some may find this a revealing change from the solitary, damaged detective and his bottle. Others will love two women characters: the determined Detective Sergeant Ritchie, doing her best in a man's world, and, especially, reporter Jo Dalgliesh, a welcome visitor from the old noir novels. With her insolent manner and perpetual cigarette, she brings the novel to life whenever she appears. Wields a mean scaffold pole, too, complete with wisecrack. And there's Oswald's soft, unobtrusive humor. A crime scene is as clean as a Labrador's dinner dish. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)