The Damage Done by James Oswald

There’s much to commend this book, the sixth in a series I’ve found original and intriguing. The writing is good, there’s a real depth to the many characters involved and the mystery is mystifying to say the least.

Perhaps best of all, the story highlights the struggles of a conscientious detective, struggling to cope with increasing workloads, management that don’t share his determination or desire to solve a case, and an increasingly complicated private life that invariably suffers.

Things get off to a bad start for DI Tony McLean. Following a tip off, a raid goes horribly wrong. Was there a leak from within the police ranks? Or are there more sinister forces at work? Tony wants to know, but he has little support from above. Meanwhile, people are dying mysteriously. Though not linked to the raid, the deaths seem a little too coincidental. But without proof of any crime, other than a witness fleeing the scenes, Tony’s struggling.

Then he makes a link to a 20 year old case, where he rescued a young girl, who’d been abused and imprisoned. No one knows what happened to the girl, as it looks like she was given a new identity. Then an attempt is made on his life, but a reporter who’s with him at the time suffers instead, ending up in intensive care.

It’s all getting a little close to home as Tony battles on several fronts to join the dots and work out what is going on. At this point, I have to say I struggled with the solution, which I didn’t fully understand, even though it led to an exciting climax. Maybe I missed some important detail, or maybe there isn’t meant to be an explanation, as the author often has mystical elements to his novels that are difficult to explain.

Whatever the reason, it didn’t spoil my enjoyment of a super novel in an addictive series that’s always worth reading.

Description

No good deed goes unpunished…

When a police raid in Edinburgh goes horribly wrong, the only silver lining for Inspector Tony McLean is a discovery that could lead to a long-lost girl from his early days on the beat.

Haunted by the mystery of what happened to her, McLean begins to dig into a case he thought long buried.

But the shadows of the past are soon eclipsed by crimes in the present as a series of strange and gruesome deaths shock the city.

As McLean’s investigation draws him ever deeper into the upper echelons of Edinburgh society, it will not only be his career on the line – but his life as well…