Prayers For The Dead

Hidden deep within underground caves, caves that should have been closed off, archeology students find a dead body.  Detective McLean begins his investigation only to realize it is the body of a missing journalist.  The murder appears to be a part of a ritual, but of what kind.  McLean has the uncanny feeling that there is something more hidden within this murder than what it appears to be.  As he follows his instincts and with the help of a remarkable and unlikely allies, the detective begins to track down this killer.  One who believes he answers to a higher power, one who believes he is doing good rather than evil.




This is a book that I had the honor of receiving from the publisher through NetGallery (if you haven't checked out NetGallery do so it's pretty great).




The story starts out very strong with the murder which readers see happen when they read the prologue.  Then the strength of the novel continues until the end.  There are moments when it feels like the story wavers a little bit and has elements that feel like they don't make sense to the story, but that doesn't take away from the story itself.  The story itself is an easy read, there isn't much that goes deeper than what the author is telling us which is a good thing.  Oswald takes time to get readers familiar with his characters especially if they hadn't read one of the previous novels before.  I like that I was able to pick up this book and read it without prior knowledge of these characters.


The characters are strong and interesting, it is easy to relate to them and hope things work out the way you want them to as the reader (some stories it doesn't which makes for a great novel).  There is a nice blend of both science and paranormal throughout this book that really keeps you guessing and entertained. Some things were a little humorous that you don't see in other mystery books such as the use of poop as evidence, but it makes you wonder how often everyday cops have to analyze poop in order to solve a crime?  Gross right, but funny nonetheless.


I simply loved reading this book and hope to go back and read the previous novels and eagerly anticipate the next one.  I highly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys a good book to read regardless of genre preference.  I would give this a rating of 4 out of 5 simply because there were moments when it seemed like the story lulled.