quippe | Entries tagged with james oswald

The Blurb On The Back:

Every year for ten years, a young woman’s body was found in Edinburgh at Christmas time: naked, throat slit, body washed clean.

The final victim, Kirsty Summers, was Detective Constable Tony McLean’s finacee. But the Christmas Killer made a mistake and McLean put an end to the brutal killing spree.

Twelve years later, and a fellow prisoner has murdered the Christmas Killer. But with the festive season comes a body: naked, washed, her throat cut.

Is this a copycat killer? Was the wrong man behind bars all this time? Or is there a more sinister explanation?

McLean must revisit his most disturbing case and discover what he missed before the killer strikes again …

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

The second in the INSPECTOR MCLEAN SERIES has pacing problems and the heavy handed supernatural elements that don’t gel with the crime elements. The big issue for me is that Oswald struggles to bring together the drugs operation, the murders and the arsons in a convincing way – the arson storyline in particular could have been easily dropped and I think that the supernatural element would have been stronger for it. I also found the identity of the antagonist to be easy to guess and the chapters told from their point of view didn’t make a whole lot of sense in the context of the story. This is all a shame because I liked the insights we get on Tony’s personal life (alluded to in NATURAL CAUSES) and would have liked more information on his relationship with Kirsty (who’s rather flat and two-dimensional) as a contrast to what’s going on with Emma. Tony’s forced therapy sessions could have helped with this but the set-up was artificial and the relationship unnecessarily antagonistic. I enjoy Tony’s relationship with Grumpy Bob and his squad and enjoyed the introduction of DS Ritchie and I like how Oswald forces his character into new situations while weighing him up with guilt. As such, while this book didn’t work for me, I do want to read the next one.

The Blurb On The Back:

Sixty years ago a young girl was brutally murdered – her internal organs were removed and her body mutilated. Until now she lay undiscovered, sealed in an underground chamber.

For the Edinburgh police force the six-decade-old case is not a priority, but Detective Inspector McLean is haunted by the dead girl’s ritualistic murder and the six trinkets placed carefully around the body.

As a wave of high-profile and bloody murders hits the city of Edinburgh – each one bearing an uncanny resemblance to the last – the same name begins to recur. As McLean digs deeper he must question just how many coincidences there can be, realising that the most irrational answer might be the only one possible …

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

James Oswald’s debut crime novel (the first in a series) is a great addition to the crowded Tartan noir field, introducing a detective with an interesting personal background and adding a genuinely creepy supernatural twist. What I really loved about the book was the confidence with which Oswald reveals McLean’s character – I liked the slow reveal of key facts about his background, the relationship with his grandmother, his romantic life (which leaves a lot of gaps that I assume will be explored in future books) and his professional relationships. Although Duguid is too thinly drawn to be a truly interesting antagonist, I enjoyed the characterisation of Chief Superintendent McIntyre (whose part politician, part pen pusher and part station mum) and Grumpy Bob’s loafing makes an interesting foil to McLean’s dedication. There are some first novel issues with the book – the pacing sags in a couple of places, a sub-plot regarding crime scene photo leaks doesn’t get a satisfying resolution and the coincidences do veer towards contrivance at times. I could have also done without the love triangle element for McLean, mainly because it was one element too much for an already packed story and if I’m being picky, then I wished the supernatural elements had been threaded through a little earlier and a little more vigorously to give more oomph to the conclusion. This aside though, I really enjoyed this book and kept turning the pages and will definitely be reading the next in the series.