#BookReview Prayer for the Dead by James Oswald @crookedlanebks

Prayer for the Dead by James Oswald
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Detective Inspector Tony McLean is on the case when the search for a missing journalist uncovers the scene of a carefully staged murder. In a sealed chamber, deep in the heart of Gilmerton Cove, a mysterious network of caves and passages sprawling beneath Edinburgh, the body is discovered in a seemingly macabre ritual of purification. But McLean knew the dead man and can't shake off the suspicion that there is far more to this case than meets the eye.

For one thing, the baffling lack of forensics at the crime scene seems impossible. But that's just the first in a series of revelations about this case that seems beyond belief. Teamed with the most unlikely and unwelcome of allies, McLean must track down a killer--driven by the darkest compulsions and who will answer only to a higher power--until it's his own blood on the altar.

Shocking and suspenseful, Prayer for the Dead, the fifth installment in James Oswald's internationally bestselling series, plunges readers into the bone-chilling darkness of an underground world filled with ancient secrets.

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As much as I enjoyed listening to the fifth book in this series was I'm not really pleased with the narrator choice to whisper the killer's thoughts. It just sounded like he was mumbling and I was lucky if I could hear a word or two and understand what the heck the killer was doing.

Now, I like Tony McLean, and I like the paranormal angle to the books in this series. But, this was not the strongest book in the series. The best part was towards the end when the story finally started to make sense. But, for the most part, the book did feel a bit slow, more bodies are found and they are trying to figure out the link between the bodies and discover who the killer is. Personally, would I loved the book to be more thrilling to read. To be honest, the story just didn't feel very memorable. It's an OK book, but it felt like 2/3 of the book just plodded along in a slow pace and BAM then the ending happened (which I liked) and then the book was over. On a side now, I loved Madame Rose and her cats.

Despite my lackluster opinion of the book, I do look forward to reading the next book, and the one before that I've missed to read.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through Netgalley for an honest review!

The Hangman’s Song by James Oswald (SWE/ENG)

The Hangman's Song by James Oswald
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

SWEDISH REVIEW

En ung man hittas hängd i sitt hem i Edinburgh. Det ser ut som ett simpelt, sorgligt självmord, men kriminalkommissarie Tony McLean blir förbryllad av det egendomliga självmordsbrevet. En andra hängd man och ytterligare ett underligt meddelande pekar mot ett olycksbådande mönster.

McLean är mitt uppe i en utredning om prostitution och trafficking, och kämpar samtidigt med att försöka koppla ihop de två självmorden. Upptäckten av ett tredje självmord övertygar honom om att det ligger ont uppsåt bakom. När han gräver djupare finner McLean svar som kommer honom närmare inpå livet än han kunnat föreställa sig. Något skräckinjagande stryker omkring på stadens gator – och jakten på det riskerar att förgöra allt som McLean håller kärt.

Bödelns sång är den tredje, fristående boken om kommissarie McLean.

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Utan tvekan är Bödelns sång den bästa boken hittills i serien av kommissarie McLean. De två första böckerna var även de bra men det var något med denna bok som verkligen tilltalade mig, som gjorde att jag sträckläste boken under en dag. McLean har det som vanligt inte lätt på jobbet, han har en ny chef som hatar honom och ifrågasätter allting han gör och är mest intresserad att så snabbt som möjligt avsluta fall. Så ett självmord är något som McLean inte alls borde forska i. Men det gör han och han inser att något inte stämmer och när fler självmord inträffar måste han så snabbt som möjligt finna den gemensamma kopplingen så att han kan få stopp på dem.

Som vanligt är det ett drag av paranormalt i boken och det är just det paranormal som gör serien så speciell och är skäl till att jag gillar serien så mycket. Ett anant skäl är humorn i boken. Trots det mörka temat i boken så fäller McLean och andra så otroligt härliga kommentarer hela tiden, det gör att boken är nåde spännande och roande att läsa. En kombination som jag gillar.

Jag tyckte om att Emma var tillbaka i handlingen så snabbt efter vad som hände med henne i förra boken. Hon har blivit en favorit karaktär, i och för sig gillar jag rätt många, men just allting som rörde henne i boken var verkligen intressant och jag gillar verkligen Emma och McLean tillsammans.

Bödels sång var mycket läsvärd, jag önskar att jag kunde läsa nästa bok på direkten men får vänta på att den översätts till svenska. Jag rekommenderar denna serie stark till läsare som gillar annorlunda kriminalare. 

Tack till Modernista för recensionsexemplaret!

ENGLISH REVIEW

The Hangman's Song is the thrilling third novel in James Oswald's Inspector McLean series set in Edinburgh.

The body of a man is founding hanging in an empty house. To the Edinburgh police force this appears to be a simple suicide case.

Days later another body is found.

The body is hanging from an identical rope and the noose has been tied using the same knot.

Then a third body is found.

As McLean digs deeper he descends into a world where the lines of reality are blurred and that the most irrational answers become the only explanations.

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I think that The Hangman's Song is the best book I have read so far in the Inspector McLean series. I do of course, like the previous books very much as well. However, there was something with this book that really appealed to me. I liked it so much that it only took a day for me to read it. McLean has, as usual, it not easy at work. He has a new boss that really hates him and that's always questioning him and just want cases close as soon as possible. So a suicide case is not McLean should be investigating, but he feels that something is not right and then more suicides occur and he has to find out what is connecting the suicides before more bodies are found.

As usual is there a paranormal part to the story and it's the paranormal part that makes the series so special to read and also a reason for me liking the series so much. Another reason is the humour. Despite the dark theme in the book are there many funny one-liners and dialogues in the book. This makes the book both thrilling and funny to read. A combination that I love.

I liked that Emma is back in the story so fast, especially when you think about what she went through in the last book. She has become a favourite character, although I do have a lot of favourite characters in the series. But, I do find that everything concerning Emma and what happened to her and how it has affected her is fascinating to read about. Also, I do like Emma and McLean together.

The Hangman's Song is a very good book, I wish I could read the next book right away, but I must wait for it to be translated into Swedish first. I recommend this series warmly to anyone that likes to read a different kind of crime novel.

Thanks to Modernista for the review copy!

The Book of Souls by James Oswald (SWE/ENG)

The Book of Souls by James Oswald
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Swedish review

Varje år under ett decennium hittades en ung kvinnas kropp vid jultid i Edinburgh: naken, med halsen avskuren, kroppen rentvättad. Tio år, tio kvinnor. Det sista offret, Kirsty Summers, var kriminalkommissarie Tony McLeans flickvän. Men Julmördaren begick ett misstag. I en källare under en butik hittade McLean en tortyrkammare och satte stopp för serien av brutala mord. 

Tolv år senare har en medfånge just mördat den inspärrade Julmördare. Men när julhelgen kommer dyker en kropp upp. En ung kvinna: naken, rentvättad, med halsen avskuren. Är det en copycat-mördare? Har fel man suttit bakom galler alla dessa år? Eller finns det en ännu mörkare och otäckare förklaring? Kommissarie McLean måste återuppta sitt livs otäckaste fall och komma på vad han har missat innan mördaren slår till igen...

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Själarnas bok är uppföljaren Flickoffret, den första delen i Inspector McLean serien. Jag läste Flickoffret några veckor innan jag läste Själarnas bok så jag har handlingen från första boken i färskt minne. Jag gillar denna serie, jag gillar speciellt det övernaturliga inslagen som präglar böckerna. det gör att serien känns lite annorlunda att läsa jämförelsevis med andra kriminalare. Men, det är inga vampyrer eller zombier i handlingen, det är mer som om det onda i världen faktiskt kan ha demoniskt ursprung osv.

I första boken fick man reda på lite of Tony's flickvän Kirsty som blev mördad av Julmördaren. I denna bok får man reda på mer vad som hände och hur mördaren togs fast. Men för Tony innebär det nya fallet med unga döda kvinnor en smärtsam påminnelse om Kirstys död. Jag fann denna bok inte lika bra som första boken, handlingen är intressant. Men jag fann vissa delar av boken lite segare att läsa än första boken, och jag saknade spänningen från första boken. Och, jag hade en misstanke rätt tidigt om vem det kunde vara som låg bakom morden, så jag var var inte jätteöverraskad när det visade sig att jag hade rätt.

Dock var slutet riktigt bra, med konfrontationen mellan Tony och mördaren. men vad som verkligen fick mig att haja till är vad som hände i det sista kapitlet. Wow säger jag bara, det hade jag inte räknat med!

Tack Pocketförlaget för recensionsexemplaret!

English review

Each year for ten years, a young woman’s body was found in Edinburgh at Christmastime: naked, throat slit, body washed clean. The final victim, Kirsty Summers, was Detective Constable Tony McLean's fiancée. But the Christmas Killer made a mistake, and McLean put an end to the brutal killing spree. 

It’s now twelve years later. A fellow prisoner has just murdered the incarcerated Christmas Killer. But with the arrival of the festive season comes a body. A young woman: naked, washed, her throat cut. Is this a copycat killer? Was the wrong man behind bars all this time? Or is there a more frightening explanation? McLean must revisit the most disturbing case of his life and discover what he missed before the killer strikes again . . .

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The Book of Souls is the second book in the Inspector McLean series. I read the first book, Natural Causes a couple of weeks ago and that's nice to have the first book in fresh memory. I like this series very much, I especially like the paranormal aspects, it makes this series a bit different from other crime series. It's not like it's vampires, or zombies running around, it's more like it's a darkness in the world with things like demon possessions, etc. 

We got to find out some things about Tony's girlfriend that died in the first book, but here we get the whole story. How she was killed and how the murderer was caught. For Tony is the new case a painful reminder of Kirsty's death. However, I did find the book not as riveting as the first book, don't get me wrong it was still good. But, I just found the book a bit less thrilling to read. And, I did have a suspicious feeling quite early of whom could be behind the new killings, so I wasn't that surprised when it turned out I was right.

Though, the ending was really good with the confrontation between Tony and the killer. However, what really got to me was the last chapter. Wow, I never expected that in a million years!

Thanks Pocketförlaget for the review copy!

Natural Causes by James Oswald

Natural Causes by James Oswald
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Detective Inspector Anthony "Tony" McLean is investigating the discovery of a dead girl that has been walled up in a basement of an old estate. As if that's not bad enough Tony also discovers that her internal organs have been removed and placed in six preserving jars around her.  The evidence implies that it must have been at last 60 years ago that someone did this, but why? Could this murder be a sacrifice of some kind? It's up to Tony to figure it out. But, this is a cold case, the Edinburgh police have a bigger problem with the murders of prominent city elders. The problem is that the killers commit suicide right after the murder. Which is odd the first time, but then it happens again...and again...

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I read The Damage Done, the latest book in the Inspector McLean series a while back and I was a bit confused over the book story. However, after the "interesting" ending did I check up the book and that confirmed my suspicion that this series has a paranormal angle to the stories. And, suddenly the story in The Damage Done made much more sense. So, when I started to read this the first book in this series was I expecting the paranormal angel. 

I was impressed with the story in this book, with the weird murders and the dead girl in the basement. I especially like the mix of paranormal in this crime novel. That makes this series a bit more unusual than an ordinary crime series. The main character Tony was raised after his parent's death by his grandmother that's now in the hospital following a stroke. And, 10 years ago his fiancee Kirsty Summers was murdered. So, he hasn't had an easy life and he hasn't much of a private life. Basically, he lives for his job and that's good because he has much to do in this book. He must solve the murders, find out the truth about the girl in the basement, and stop a cat burglar that targets houses of recently deceased people. 

It's a dark book, but with humorous banters the characters. I especially like the coroner Angus Cadwallader, he brightens up the book, despite his job. Angus and Tony's scenes are always fun to read, despite the fact that they often met when someone has died. 

I found this book, the first in the series to be an excellent book, with an intriguing and thrilling story!

The Damage Done by James Oswald

The Damage Done by James Oswald
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

An Edinburgh police vice squad raid goes embarrassingly wrong when the house they raid is not a brothel, but a private home. However, it seems that the people there seem to be having sex (kinky sex in a cage kind of sex), but it's not illegal. But, there is something about the place that is familiar with Tony McLean, it reminds him of a case when he was a young cop.

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My mother read the first book a little while ago and she loved it. So, I didn't hesitate when I got the chance to read this one. Strangely enough, I had some problem getting really into the story which confused me since I couldn't really find anything faulty with the tale. It felt more like there was just something about the story that just didn't work for me. I'm thinking the case, sex crimes aren't really my favorite book subject. And, I felt like I kept waiting for the story to take off, but it never did. I was actually on the verge of giving up. But, instead, I closed the book, well closed my Ipad and decided to continue the next day.

And, the next day the book started to work, either a break was what I needed or the book's story took off. It's probably a combination I was a bit tired at the end the day before. Anyway, the last around 160 sides of the book was quite enjoyable and the ending was intriguing. And, after I read the book did I ask my mother if there is anything supernatural going on in the book she had read and sure it was. And, that explained a lot that mystified me during the time I read the book.

The case was in a way interesting, but it felt like it took forever for Tony McLean to figure things out. I kept waiting for him to realize who the Heather was and it was frustrating to read about how he knew he had seen her before, but couldn't place her. It just took a bit too long time for the penny to drop. The case got better when Tony and the rest figured out the connection a cold case had with the deaths in the present. And, now thinking back to the story with knowledge about the paranormal aspect of the story makes some things that happened so much more sense. Especially the confrontation towards the end,

The book and I had a shaky start, I was thinking of giving up, but I prevailed and I was rewarded with a book that in the end turned out to be quite good. I'm looking forward to reading the first book in the series.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review.

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