An Edinburgh police vice squad raid goes embarrassingly wrong when the house they raid is not a brothel, but a private home. However, it seems that the people there seem to be having sex (kinky sex in a cage kind of sex), but it's not illegal. But, there is something about the place that is familiar with Tony McLean, it reminds him of a case when he was a young cop.

My mother read the first book a little while ago and she loved it. So, I didn't hesitate when I got the chance to read this one. Strangely enough, I had some problem getting really into the story which confused me since I couldn't really find anything faulty with the tale. It felt more like there was just something about the story that just didn't work for me. I'm thinking the case, sex crimes aren't really my favorite book subject. And, I felt like I kept waiting for the story to take off, but it never did. I was actually on the verge of giving up. But, instead, I closed the book, well closed my Ipad and decided to continue the next day.

And, the next day the book started to work, either a break was what I needed or the book's story took off. It's probably a combination I was a bit tired at the end the day before. Anyway, the last around 160 sides of the book was quite enjoyable and the ending was intriguing. And, after I read the book did I ask my mother if there is anything supernatural going on in the book she had read and sure it was. And, that explained a lot that mystified me during the time I read the book.

The case was in a way interesting, but it felt like it took forever for Tony McLean to figure things out. I kept waiting for him to realize who the Heather was and it was frustrating to read about how he knew he had seen her before, but couldn't place her. It just took a bit too long time for the penny to drop. The case got better when Tony and the rest figured out the connection a cold case had with the deaths in the present. And, now thinking back to the story with knowledge about the paranormal aspect of the story makes some things that happened so much more sense. Especially the confrontation towards the end,

The book and I had a shaky start, I was thinking of giving up, but I prevailed and I was rewarded with a book that in the end turned out to be quite good. I'm looking forward to reading the first book in the series.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review.

Read this review and others on A Bookaholic Swede ( )

I really did enjoy the book in spite of the fact that it left me a bit mystified at the end. The ending was the reason it only received the 4 star rating. I love Tony McLean, his total bafflement at how he winds up in the messes he finds himself in...and I enjoy the paranormal aspects of the stories....the community of both good and bad cops. I believe these cops are a little over the top rude sometimes but that is one of the things that make the story. I am looking forward to the next book in the series. ( )

The Damage Done is either very good, or I have very little self-control (or both). I ran through the first five books of this series in one long chore-neglecting marathon; this one came out just at the beginning of a week of exams. But so what? Who needs revision when there's another instalment of DI Tony McLean to be read?

This time, McLean has been shuffled sideways into the Sexual Crimes Unit, and if it was all straightforward, it wouldn't be much of a book. As it is, a big raid goes embarrassingly wrong - but why? And who wants it all brushed under the carpet?

Once more, McLean is poking things that other people don't want poked, and finding out things they wish he hadn't. We also have more of the byzantine politics of Edinburgh's police force, and further developments in people's careers and interpersonal relationships. Makes me wonder what Oswald has in store for the future, but he's setting it up to be good. I think at some point he's going to have to stop moving McLean around and let him develop a stable team - it will be interesting when that happens.

And there's the hint of supernatural. It's rather less obvious in this book than in previous books, and I'm wondering if Oswald means to do anything with the ideas he's introduced. I do like the way Oswald does supernatural, though. It's low-key (and creepy) enough that so far, McLean has managed to keep not believing in it. I wonder at what point McLean is going to wake up and smell the coffee - although Oswald will have to let the poor man get some sleep first.

I shall certainly be looking out for the next book. ( )

Detective Inspector Tony McLean is back, and it is a most welcomed return.

Now working with the Sexual Crimes Unit, McLean has been joined by DS Ritchie, both having put behind them the harrowing events which occured in Prayer for the Dead. After a brief introduction to two very mysterious characters, the action opens with the SCU about to conduct a raid upon a suspected brothel. Needless to say, as this is a McLean story, nothing is quite as straight forward as it is meant to be and what should be big coup for the team turns quickly into a big embarrassment. They are able to salvage something from the raid, albeit something minor, but as always McLean's sixth sense is sent into overdrive, and when he meets a young woman who he is certain he knows from somewhere, you know that this is yet another job which is not going to end well.

With pressure on from the top brass to investigate how the raid went so wrong with as little fuss as possible, McLean is left wondering just why everyone is so keen to let it drop. To add to the confusion, McLean finds himself having to deal with the case of a Salesman who has died in somewhat awkward and unusual circumstances, circumstances which lead him back full circle to that fateful raid and an increasing pressure to close the case pronto.

Never one to like being told to walk away, you know that this will not happen now, and McLean's natural curiosity is set to get him into trouble. As a result of his continued investigation into the case, he finds himself transferred to the Cold Case Squad, alongside former Chief Super Duguid and Grumpy Bob Laird. This is a move the Senior Officers may soon regret, as Duguid has his own agenda and personal reasons for wanting to run a particular cold case, one which leads McLean, Grumpy Bob and co back to an old investigation that occured when McLean was just a fresh faced beat copper and Duguid a mere DS, a case with more than just an echo of the recent raid.

The pace of the book felt a touch more pedestrian after the intensity of some of the previous books, and based around sex crimes, cold cases and death by natural causes rather than outright gruesome ritual murder, you might probably expect it. Don't let this fool you. It still moves along at a good pace, is as engrossing as all of the rest, and I found that I got through the whole thing in just a day. Despite Duguid having 'retired', there is the usual cast of antagonists, like Brooks and Spencer, making McLean's day to day working life just that fraction more irritating than it needs to be, as well as an uneasy and unexpected alliance with the incessant, boys club hating, and now conspiracy obsessed journalist Jo Dalgliesh. With the return of best friend Phil and his heavily pregnant wife Rachel, along with her sister Jenny, McLean's social life is suddenly full once more, much to the disgust of Mrs McCutcheon's Cat. By the end of the book it also looks set to be a whole lot more complicated.

The writing is as sharp as ever, the characters well observed, and while it may be obvious to the reader early on how McLean knows the mysterious Heather Marchmont, with the distractions in his work and home life, it is no wonder it takes him a while to cotton on. The undercurrent of the supernatural/ritualistic element which has characterised this series is a lot more understated in this book, but still there, along with the promise of more to come as the reasons for or the ultimate source of the attempted whitewash are never fully explained and the mysterious duo from the start of the novel are still at large, giving us the impression that there is still more to be uncovered about this particular tale. We know from past history that McLean doesn't like to let things like that rest.

And so, as an avid reader of this series, I am left with only one question.

When's the next one out? ;) ( )