What can I say but I am enjoying revisiting the books I have read in the Tony McLean series (I have 2 more to go and then I will be starting on the ones that are on my TBR list) Prayer for the Dead begins with the murder of Ben Stevenson a fellow reporter of Jo Dalgliesh, someone Tony does everything to avoid. He is not exactly over the moon when he finds himself working with her to find out what Stevenson had been working on at the time of his death but even he can see the benefits of her insights and maybe he can control what the public hear about too. When other bodies turn up the race is on to find out is behind the killings and are they even linked. If that wasn’t enough to keep him busy he is also dealing with developers wanting to buy his old flat and Madame Rose as a house guest when she is being harassed at her home.
Although you do still get the slight feeling of the supernatural in this book it is not as prevalent as in the ones before. Tony is still being pulled from pillar to post and not always getting the backup he needs from his superiors (at times you do feel this is self-inflicted). I liked the fact that we get to learn a little more about Tony’s childhood via small chapters throughout the book. It’s not a case of any reminiscing which is why at first they don’t really make any sense but by the end the link is clearly there.
Despite everything that is going on we also get to see the developing respect within the team as DS Ritchie and DC MacBride start to open up a little to their boss and you can see how much he values their input into investigations even if he doesn’t always let them know it. I love the snarky interactions with Jo Dalgliesh as well as you know they will never be best buddies but in this book they do seem to have a grudging respect for the others profession and determination to get to the truth.
I love the pacing of these books as they keep you on your toes trying to work out the multiple investigations and how they fit together. I do worry about the team as with the exception of Grumpy Bob who always manages to be out of harm’s way they do always seem to find their lives at risk with each investigation. Maybe they actually have more lives than Mrs McCutcheon’s cat and they can survive whatever investigations are still to come. One thing is for sure I cant wait to get stuck into the rest of this series over the coming months to find out

Di Tony Mclean has a tough case= in a cave. Then there are additional bodies and he's got to find the killer fast. There's a bit of the paranormal here but it's not too woo woo and actually adds to the story quite well. A good read.

Within three pages I was hooked! I devoured this book and the rest of the series within a fortnight. Twists, turns, it was gripping and throughtfully put together. My new favourite author!

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.

This series just keeps getting better and better! I can't wait for the next!

Fantastic next installment in the,series.
Unforgettable characters and twists and turns,that will keepyou glued to the pages until the end.
Highly recommended read

This was the second book of the Inspector McLean series I've read, after The Book Of Souls, which is the second. (Don't ask me why I read #2 and then #5, not starting at the beginning and then skipping books ... but I've got #7 on my kindle too, so that one is probably going to be next). The Book Of Souls was quite good, but Prayer for the Dead unfortunately didn't win me over as much. It was quite an average read, not bad, not outstanding. It was a bit slow for me, and that's probably because for most of the book the investigations seemed to be leading nowhere, even though there was quite a lot going on at the same time. Anyway, there were some creepy moments, which kind of made up for the more boring passages. Overall, three stars from me and a promise that this won't be the last Inspector McLean novel I've read.
Last but not least I'd like to thank NetGalley, James Oswald and Penguin for this free ebook in exchange for an honest review!

A lives a humdrum life in an unnamed American city. Her roommate is called B and A feels that B is trying to take over her life. A's relationship with her boyfriend C is compartmentalised like the rest of her life. A's job is monotonous and doesn't stimulate her. As A drifts through life obsessing about bodies and the people in the house opposite she grows resentful of B's apparent neediness and eating problems. She also becomes obsessed with Kandy Kakes and a supermarket chain called Wally's, but when she discovers a link between everything happening around her things take a really odd turn.

It is so hard to describe this book and even harder to like it. There are elements of excellent writing, the parts describing the body and eating are written in beautiful prose. However the whole narrative is so disjointed and confusing that it does not satisfy. I feel the writer was caught up in her own cleverness and the book tries to mimic other existential writers works. To those who enjoy this sort of fiction it will be a hit, to me it just feels pretentious

Here we are, book 5 and back in the life of Inspector Tony McLean.
I only started this series at book 4. That wasn't intentional I didn't realise at the time I was reading the 4th book, so thought I'd just carry on from there.
In this book McLean is asked to investigate a missing reporter, by another reporter Jo Dalgleish. She is concerned that her colleague is missing. It turns out she has every reason to be concerned when he turns up dead.
Found in a cave.
He also has issues with Madam Rose, a fortune teller who turns up needing somewhere to stay.
​I don't want to give to much of the story away, as I really don't want to spoil it for anyone who is yet to read it.
​But
I really enjoyed this book. The way the story went was very well done.
I think had I read books 1 to 3 I may have more of McLean's background, but I don't think only starting at book 4 has done me any harm really.
​McLean is a likeable character, and he's really growing on me. I'm looking forward to getting stuck in and being able to read the next book in this series. I have it waiting on my kindle to get started.

The search for a missing journalist is called off as a body is found at 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 victim has undergone a macabre ritual of purification.

Inspector Tony McLean knew the dead man, and can't shake off the suspicion that there is far more to this case than meets the eye. The baffling lack of forensics at the crime scene seems impossible. But it is not the only thing about this case that McLean will find beyond belief.

Teamed with the most unlikely and unwelcome of allies, he must track down a killer driven by the darkest compulsions, who will answer only to a higher power...

As good if not better than Ian Rankin.

I came across James Oswald via his friend Stuart MacBride. I think it was in the acknowledgements of one of his books, and as it looked like he was talking about a fellow crime writer, I looked him up. Boy was that a smart move! I don't know why, but I like Scottish writers, and James Oswald's no exception.
Like the Inspector McLean novels before it is primarily a police procedure, but with supernatural overtures. I know this sounds strange, but funny enough, it works. I've not encountered anything like it before, but it had me hooked from the beginning. I don't want to spoil the story for you, so just a few words about it: A journalist goes missing and is than found dead; a journalist not very much liked by most of the police. And McLean not only has to deal with it, but he actually has to collaborate with Dalgliesh, a journalist he especially dislikes, which makes for interesting conflicts, and than the killer strikes again.... Just get the book and enjoy a real good read!