Prayer for the Dead by James Oswald

Prayer for the Dead
By James Oswald
Published by Michael Joseph (12 February 2015)
ISBN: 978-0718180195

Publisher's description
A body is found at the scene of a carefully staged murder. In a sealed chamber deep in the heart of Gilmerton Cove, the victim has undergone a macabre ritual of purification.

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

Teamed with the most unlikely and unwelcome of allies, McLean must track down a killer with the darkest compulsions, who answers only to a higher power...

My verdict
This is my first James Oswald book, but is the fifth in the Inspector McClean series. Despite some references to previous books, this didn't affect my enjoyment of Prayer for the Dead.

Prayer for the Dead is a police procedural with some supernatural aspects. This was a welcome change from some of the other (equally as enjoyable) crime books I have read recently. There was plenty of forensic information and descriptions of the police investigations, as well as some interesting characters.

The book begins when McClean is asked to investigate the disappearance of a journalist, whose body is then found in an obscure location - dark caves underneath the Edinburgh and only accessible through underground passages. When another body is found, again with little forensic evidence to provide any clues, it's clear that there is a twisted killer on the loose.

I didn't learn much about McLean in this book and would have liked to know more - this may have been covered in previous books, but I noticed that some other reviews suggest he is a fairly mysterious character.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.