Edinburgh, 1828 is a dangerous place brimming with all kinds
of violence from the dead and alive alike. For local police sergeant, Adam
Quire, the fabled become a macabre reality. Body snatching is on the rise, the cemetery
a shopping mall for the experimental, a quick cash grab occupation for undesirables
for the purposes of the prosperous. Missing cadavers find their way into universities
for medical students to craft their trade and for the lesser well intentioned
to ply their dark arts.
When a man is found with his throat torn out, dead in
horrific fashion, the Edinburgh police look to Quire to solve the murder. What
he embarks upon soon turns personal when attempts are made on his life, his time
on the force prematurely ended, and mysterious trinkets appear in his
homestead. If that wasn’t enough, he faces man made monsters and dogs akin to
zombies yet more like Frankenstein’s monster – without pain or remorse, driven
by murder on command of their handlers. The streets of old and new town run red
with blood of innocents and Quire, unrelenting in his plight, splashes in the
sickly puddles to rid Edinburgh of this darkly strange menace.
THE EDINBURGH DEAD is different from the books I’ve
previously read by Brian Ruckley (The Godless World trilogy) yet the
fantastical and deep characterisation remain. Quire is a well developed former solider
whose natural flair and sense of purpose are derived from his violent past.
Just as well given the latest endeavour he so finds himself. The plot itself
initially shifts from early 1800’s horror to urban fantasy encompassing a primarily
linear focus with flashbacks to Quire’s past.
I enjoyed THE EDINBURGH DEAD. It’s got a uniqueness to it that
embodies multiple genres as the story unfolds but is ultimately held together by
the criminal elements. Published in 2011 (Orbit) I’m surprised to not have seen
any more books in this setting from Ruckley, there’s certainly enough depth Quire
to warrant further instalments, be it flashbacks to his policing or the event
proceeding THE EDINBURGH DEAD.
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