The Hangman's Song (Inspector Mclean 3) (57 page)

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Authors: James Oswald

BOOK: The Hangman's Song (Inspector Mclean 3)

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At least until today.

The MSP for Fife West had sat himself down in the snow, leaning his back against the statue. Shoved the rifle between his legs, the end of the barrel under his chin, and then pulled the trigger. Like his wife before him, the bullet had done most of its damage on the way out, leaving his face oddly slack but otherwise untouched. McLean walked around the edge of the tent, keeping away from the body until he was right in front of it, hunkering down for a better look. Andrew Weatherly’s lips were oddly swollen and blistered, as if he’d burnt them on something not long before he died. But what was most shocking was the look of utter, abject terror in his eyes.

JAMES OSWALD

NATURAL CAUSES

Sixty years ago a young girl was brutally murdered – her internal organs were removed and her body mutilated. Until now she lay undiscovered, sealed in an underground chamber.

For the Edinburgh police force the six-decade-old case is not a priority, but Detective Inspector McLean is haunted by the dead girl’s ritualistic murder and the six trinkets placed carefully around the body.

As a wave of high-profile and bloody murders hits the city of Edinburgh – each one bearing an uncanny resemblance to the last – the same name begins to recur. As McLean digs deeper he must question just how many coincidences there can be, realising that the most irrational answer might be the only one possible …

Natural Causes
is the first Inspector McLean Novel.

www.penguin.com

JAMES OSWALD

THE BOOK OF SOULS

Every year for ten years, a young woman’s body was found in Edinburgh at Christmas time: naked, throat slit, body washed clean.

The final victim, Kirsty Summers, was Detective Constable Tony McLean’s fiancée. But the Christmas Killer made a mistake and McLean put an end to the brutal killing spree.

Twelve years later, and a fellow prisoner has murdered the Christmas Killer. But with the festive season comes a body; naked, washed, her throat cut.

Is this a copycat killer? Was the wrong man behind bars all this time? Or is there a more sinister explanation?

Mclean must revisit his most disturbing case and discover what he missed before the killer strikes again …

‘Oswald is among the leaders in the batch of excellent Scottish crime writers, whose spiritual father is Ian Rankin’
Daily Mail

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THE BEGINNING

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