All That Lives

James Oswald’s DI Tony McLean series has now reached book number 12 and shows no sign of flagging. The latest in the Edinburgh police series sees McLean tangling with his long-standing foe Mrs Saifre, otherwise known as Jane Louise Dee, a woman who makes Cruella de Ville look like a good candidate for chief exec of the RSPCA.

McLean is no lover of coincidence and when three dead bodies turn up in quick succession, all widely spaced in time and seemingly unrelated, with the oldest possibly having been interred some 700 years ago, maybe as part of some unexplained ritual sacrifice, he can’t help looking for connections. He’s certainly more interested in pursuing even the most tenuous of leads than he is in pandering to his boss’ latest initiative that seems to be embedding the Dee Foundation, run by McLean’s nemesis, the sinister Mrs Saifre, in just about everything that’s going on in the city. But Chief Superintendent Elmwood, only recently returned to work after sustaining terrible burns in a fire, thinks Saifre farts rainbows and kisses puppies. She also happens to be a houseguest in Saifre’s opulent mansion, and is determined tha,t for once, McLean is going to toe the party line.

As ever, McLean has no intention whatsoever of toeing any line. He’s far more invested in the buried bodies and a spate of unusual drug-related deaths. Then his girlfriend collapses at home and is rushed to hospital, where she remains in a coma, with the doctors no wiser as to the cause of the problem other than a possible stroke. Despite their best efforts, McLean is warned to prepare for the worst – Emma might not wake up again.

But to counter old evil, you need old magic, and the most powerful sacrifice of all. Luckily, Edinburgh is not without its defenders, even though at times they come in strange guises.

In All That Lives James Oswald has served up yet another deliciously creepy police procedural, redolent with smell of grave dirt, where evil wears a smiling face and a smart dress. McLean’s old friend, the medium and occultist Madame Rose returns, as delightfully over the top and inscrutable as ever. But seeing the usually fearless journalist Jo Dalgleish tell McLean that he’s on his own if he goes up against the Dee Foundation was very scary as it’s not like the redoubtable Jo to bottle out of a fight. All well as these old favourites, we see more of no-nonsense DS Janie Harrison who does her best to watch McLean’s back when Ellwood is on the warpath and my old favourite, Grumpy Bob, is now working on cold cases and living down to his nickname.

Whilst there is an over-arching plot linking this series – and its spin off with Constance Fairchild – each story can be read perfectly well as a standalone, but to get the best from this world, I would advise starting as close to the beginning as you can get. I love Tony McLean’s world, despite the dark shadows that lurk just at the edge of your vision. It’s not a safe world, and it’s certainly not a nice one, but it’s always fascinating and for those who like a subtle hint of the unexplained with their police work, it provides some welcome shivers.