James D. Oswald

A protest march is about to get under way and the police are busy preparing for what they are sure will be a high-tension affair. Inspector Tony McLean has been promoted to Chief Inspector and is less than comfortable with this. McLean hates all that his new position involves and just wants to be out in the field doing what he does best. As the march gets underway on the street...the trouble we know will happen, begins. Tony, not "dressed" to pursue trouble, stumbles near an old doorway. He encounters layers of old circus posters covering the keyhole of an old door. There was no handle, but someone had attached a hasp and a padlock. Someone had also pried it open with a crowbar, splintering wood. McLean is of course, intrigued and carefully opens the door. He right away notices the cold and damp, but also a smell that he can’t quite identify. At the back of the room, he sees a ragdoll up against a wall but on closer inspection he finds that it's not a doll...IT"S A CHILD! Tony is shocked by what he has found and will be more so by what he will soon discover. There is something unknown and unbelievable attached to this case, It has deep layers wrapped in secrecy and coated with fear, mysticism and darkness. The author takes us on a journey that highlights multiple themes...immigration, prostitution, trafficking, militant behavior, racism and much more, all very familiar to today’s society. We also get an insight into the personal life of Tony McLean, a man torn between his own personal relationship with his partner Emma, one that is bordering on becoming a total disaster... and his relationship to the job that he has a love -hate relationship with now. It's an adventure into a world that we as readers of this series have not before experienced on this level. Along with the tale of mystery & suspense we are taken into the world of the paranormal with unimaginable possibilities...which is a favorite venture of mine...but perhaps not for all faithful readers of this series. We have a group read monthly on the Mystery & Suspense group on Librarything...which by the way, everyone is invited to join in. I am probably the only one of the folks that participates, that regularly reads supernatural, paranormal books...so the book only received 4 stars from everyone, including myself. It was a thoroughly engrossing read but it seemed as if the author had introduced and woven the story around the occult and then wasn't quite sure how to finish it. In spite of this little glitch...this is a wonderful series that is so worth the time to read and enjoy.… (more)

In Dead Men’s Bones, the fourth installment in James Oswald’s McLean series of police procedurals, DI Tony McLean is called upon to solve two cases. The first involves a body found at the bottom of a cliff beside the River Esk: a naked man covered head-to-toe in fresh tattoos. The other is a brutal murder-suicide: at their posh home in the countryside, MSP Andrew Weatherly has killed his two young daughters with poison, shot his wife, and then turned the gun on himself. The mystery posed by the Weatherly murders is a question of why, since there is no doubt Andrew Weatherly committed the horrific murder of his family unaided (the house was well-covered by CCTV). The naked man case poses a riddle of a different order: who is the man, how did he come to be where he was found, why is he covered with tattoos? At the behest of Detective Superintendent Duguid, McLean starts digging, and in the process (as is his habit) ruffles quite a few feathers among the high and mighty. After numerous twists and turns, the trail leads McLean and his team to a derelict mental hospital and an ultra-wealthy, supremely tight-lipped business partner of Weatherly’s: the deeply mysterious and bewitching Mrs. Saifre, whose interest in Tony seems anything but benevolent. Along the way, McLean is fed sordid information and lewd photographs meant to besmirch Weatherly’s reputation by a mysterious individual (special forces? MI5?) who seems able to enter McLean’s house at will. The plot is engaging if somewhat convoluted, but eventually Tony establishes a link between the two cases, a discovery that leads to a resolution filled with mayhem and destruction. Oswald’s unadorned writing serves the swiftly paced story perfectly. Tony McLean is an attractive hero with a tragic past, a relentlessly curious detective who will piss off whoever he has to in his quest for the truth and damn the consequences. The dour Scottish setting drips atmosphere, and the supernatural element is handled with subtlety and grace. A worthy addition to a stellar series.… (more)