The DI Tony McLean series reaches book number 12 with All That Lives but there is no drop off in the quality of James Oswald’s writing or storytelling as he has produced another absorbing and very twisty read.

The story moves along at an excellent pace and kept this reader turning the pages right until the very end where the author has left all the options available for any future book.

Highly recommended.

An archaeological dig at the old South Leith parish kirkyard has turned up a mysterious body dating from around seven hundred years ago. Then a second body is unearthed on a building site. This victim went missing only thirty years ago - but the similarities between her death and the ancient woman's suggest something even more disturbing. Drawn into the investigation, Inspector McLean finds himself torn between a worrying trend of violent drug-related deaths and uncovering what truly connects these bodies. When a third body is discovered, and too close for comfort, he begins to suspect dark purpose at play - and that whoever put them there is far from finished.
This is the twelfth book in this brilliant series & once again I was drawn in from page one & found it very hard to put down until it was finished. Tony McLean is once again pulled in multiple directions, the workload is getting heavier, his old boss is back as is Mrs Saifre, his personal life is in upheaval, no one is talking about a new drug that’s killing people & then there’s the old bones. The characters are very well portrayed & have lovely depth, old favourites return & Janie Harrison is coming into her own. Not a light read & for most of the book I was wondering how on earth things were connected but gradually things came together & the climax of the book was tense, nail biting, edge of the seat & almost disastrous. A very well written, engrossing read, which I highly recommend
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

As always James Oswald's novel is dark, disturbing and compelling. His books are so much more than police procedurals. He writes with such an assured, distinctive voice. His characters demand empathy. His plots have shocks and surprises and a touch of the Grand Guignol. I greatly enjoyed the growing tension as the plot unfolded and darkness descended on the innocents. He makes one ready, indeed eager, to believe the unbelievable.
I think most crime fiction fans would agree that Val McDermid is the queen of Scottish crime writing and now we should surely acknowledge that James Oswald is the king.

I always look forward to the latest addition to what is a favourite crime blended with the supernatural series by James Oswald featuring his Edinburgh based DI Tony McLean series. This is a intensely dark novel, with Tony really going through the wringer, his hip is troubling him, the number of detectives under his command have been seriously depleted with budget cuts, leading to increasingly heavier workloads, leaving him and his team in a constant state of tiredness, and to top it all, he is left flailing as Emma collapses in front of him, and as he visits her in hospital, the prognosis is far from reassuring, bringing back the trauma of his time when his grandmother, a pathologist, slipped away from him after an inordinately long period of time in hospital. That is not all, shockingly Chief Superintendent Gail Elmwood is back, despite the horrifying injuries she suffered, and her return does not bode well.

She is planning to have his team working closely in partnership with charities run by the pure evil that is Jane Louise Dee of Saifre Industries, Dee is being lauded as a saint as she picks up the slack in funding cuts in the charitable and voluntary sector, using her dirty money to grease palms and offering favours. Her tentacles have grown, a cancer that has spread into every crack of the establishment, even Police Scotland with Elmwood's Project Tantulus, forcing Tony to submit to , her plans, despite his resistance. The severe pressure Tony is under has him understandably distracted when it comes to being on the ball at work. There is the worrying body of young Rory Devlin found at a derelict lumber yard, that on first appearances looks like murder, but turns out to be related to a nightmare new drug, referred to on the streets as Demon Breath or Zombo, more victims are to follow. Coincidentally, buried ancient bones of a woman are uncovered in a parish kirkyard, followed by the recovery of other old buried bones, one rather too close to home for Tony.

At first sight, the investigations appear to have little to connect them, but sinister evidence slowly accumulates that suggests that not only are they linked, they pose grave dangers to Tony and his team. DS Janie Harrison finds herself coming into her own, she has taken on the many traits of her boss and mentor, Tony, including being a thorn in the side of the police hierarchy. She might not understand or necessarily believe in the weird and odd aspects of their investigations, but like Tony, she is coming to accept them. It is her sheer determination and abilities that lead to a tense and thrillingly nailbiting finale. This is a wonderfully dark addition to this brilliant crime series, such a joy to see Janie's character development and the return of established characters, such as the medium Madame Rose and Grumpy Bob. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Headline for an advance copy of All that Lives, the twelfth novel to feature DI Tony McLean of Edinburgh police’s major crimes unit.

During an archaeological dig bones are uncovered. As they are about 700 years old they are of no interest to the police, but when a second set, buried in the same manner are uncovered these are of interest as they are only 30 years old. Tony McLean is interested, especially when a third set are uncovered, but he’s also dealing with a series of violent deaths from a new drug.

I thoroughly enjoyed All that Lives, which is a complicated tale of death and superstition. It is told entirely from the investigative point of view, mostly Tony, but also his sidekick DS Janie Harrison. I like this approach as the reader knows what they know and nothing more. It gives the twists more impact as they come as a surprise and allows the reader free rein to speculate on what is happening.

I found myself glued to the pages and I read it in one sitting. I like a police procedural, so there’s that, but as none of the team stick strictly to said procedure there must be more to my addiction to this series. Is it condescending to say it feels like a proper, grown up novel? There is a lot to take in and the novel feels like it has depth. There is the superstition in the buried bodies (not really supernatural for once), real pain in Tony’s personal life, personality clashes, the drugs and, lurking in the background, an old adversary. The author weaves it all together seamlessly, offering more conundrums than solutions initially and gradually pulling it all together. And then he finishes it with a shocking cliffhanger.

All that Lives is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.