This book caught me early. A historical horror novel. I liked the characters and enjoyed the setting and history. I was not a big fan of Ruckley's Wintbirth series so I was Leary but I would read another story with these characters. ( )

https://speculiction.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/review-of-edinburgh-dead-by-brian.ht... ( )

At page 75 I decided to stop. This novel has decent bones and I would like to know the rest of the plot points, but I care very little for the main character and the writing is plagued by too much detail and not enough story. ( )

2.5/5
Egalley thanks to Hachette Books Group

The thing is, I'd been chasing this book for awhile until I got to read it, and I really really wanted to like it...

But I didn't.

Perhaps the problem is that I've expected some sort of steampunkish version of Peter Grant from Ben Aaronovitch's books with plenty of action, magic, gadgets and a little bit of humour.

Instead there was historical fiction, dark, heavily written and quite slow.

The merits of this book are well researched historical period and Edinburgh itself. There is a lot you can find out about the university, the research of human body and grave robbers activity.

On the other hand the execution of the story is uninspiring.

Adam is a policeman who starts investigating a murder. The man appeared to be mauled by dogs. Adam finds out who was his previous employer and comes to visit John Ruthven, a scientist and a rich untouchable aristocrat who behaves arrogantly and suspiciously enough to raise Adam's hackles.

Adam delves deeper in Ruthven's activity and finds out some dark magic and evil experiments, gets threatened and almost killed, loses his job and becomes a man bent on revenge and delivering justice...

It's a good story, but somewhat dry. I never got lost in a book and its characters. Adam didn't feel alive enough, Ruthven started developing some personality only just before he died, Cat didn't exist beyond her meek interaction with the sergeant. It's just I don't know these people! Even the real villain didn't have much of a story.

It was exasperating, and I don't think I will read more of Brian Ruckley in the future. His writing style is just not for me.

( )

This book was fine as far as it goes, but I never really got excited by it. Contributing to my apathy, I think, was the total linearity of the plot - the main character wanted something, he went and got it, it put him onto the next thing, and so on and so forth. Or maybe it was just that the fight scenes, dramatic though they were, never seemed really perilous. ( )