Enjoyable enough, but pretty formulaic. SPOILER-ish: I don't think it's very clear from the blurb that this is a supernatural thriller. References to Ian Rankin and Val McDermid might lead the reader to expect a straight police procedural, or psychological thriller. My In-house Thriller Expert, who doesn't like fantasy at all, felt conned. I think Oswald would be better compared to Ben Aaronovitch or Paul Cornell: police procedurals with a supernatural twist. I'd say Aaronovitch is funnier and more whimsical, and Cornell is a better writer.
Eadie B. (eadieburke) -
James Oswald is a new author for me and I found his writing to be very easy to read. His characters were very well-drawn and by the end of the book, I felt like I knew them very well. The plot had more supernatural aspects then I am used to reading with the mystery suspense genre which made the book feel more like horror. I was glad to see that the supernatural aspects were fully explained and plausible in the end. The storyline was well-paced and hard to put down. There were many twists and turns which keep me guessing until the very end. The only thing I can complain about is that there were some loose ends and questions not answered at the end of the book but, hopefully, they will be answered in the next book. I look forward to reading book 2 of the Detective Inspector McLean series and I highly recommend this book to those who like mystery suspense with a touch of the supernatural.
