A brilliant edition to the series - 5 star

A badly mutilated body is discovered, limbs appear to have been ripped from the victim in this unimaginable crime. Detective Inspector Jane Harrison is the CIO and is able to call on the services of DI Tony McClean. It is true to say that DI McClean has a more secondary role in this murder enquiry as it unfolds. For readers familiar with the series it is pleasing to note that the eccentric characters from earlier books are all present namely: Madame Rose, Grumpy Bob and Mrs McCutcheon’s cat.

What sets James Oswald’s books apart is the feeling of something supernatural in the background, something uncanny, something that adds to the great and growing uneasiness throughout. Due to the lack of evidence at the murder site it takes a considerable time for the victim to be identified and by then a second body is discovered with a similar modus operandi to the first. Tony’s girlfriend Emma is working at an archaeologist dig nearby uncovering a viking longship and most disturbingly a naked man, of great height and strength is discovered asleep on a beach. Who is this “herculean” figure and is he in any way connected to the police investigation.

This is a brilliant story, I love the use of the spooky, the unravelling of a bygone era and a prophecy that needs to be fulfilled. Thanks to netgalley for this early review copy which I enjoyed immensely. Highly recommended.

Yet another brilliant audiobook with first class narration - 5 star

I can't get enough of these audiobooks they are a brilliant and immersive experience. Leopold and Loeb (Dickie & Babe) were two affluent young men who lived in chicago in 1924. They were highly educated, intelligent and bizarrely decided to murder a 14 year old boy to see if it was possible to commit the perfect crime. The unfortunate victim has his face destroyed (in an attempt to hide his identity) by acid and his body stuffed in a drain. The two did not deny the crime, the trial was held in front of a judge in order to ascertain if the appropriate penalty should be death or a long term of imprisonment.......

The trial comes alive on the audio, there is a first class narrator and a very colourful list of characters in particular prosecution and defence councils who theatrically use the courtroom to present their individual cases. I felt I was actually present as the proceedings progressed and look forward to further instalments in this brilliant series.