Edinborough Detective Inspector Tony McLean is drawn into a set of cases separated by six decades, but connected by a macabre and brutal ritual killing.

Dead Men's Bones is the fourth novel in James Oswald's phenomenal Inspector McLean series set in Edinburgh and is already a Sunday Times Top Five best-seller. A family lies slaughtered in an isolated house in North East Fife... Morag Weatherly and her two young daughters have been shot by husband Andrew, an influential politician, before he turned the gun on himself. But what would cause a rich, successful man to snap so suddenly? For Inspector Tony McLean, this apparently simple but high-profile case leads him into a world of power and privilege. And the deeper he digs, the more he realizes he's being manipulated by shadowy factions. Under pressure to wrap up the case, McLean instead seeks to uncover layers of truth — putting the lives of everyone he cares about at risk... The first three titles in the bestselling Inspector McLean series — Natural Causes, The Book of Souls, and The Hangman's Song, are all available as Penguin paperbacks and eBooks. Fans of Ian Rankin and Stuart MacBride will love James Oswald's writing.

The Book of Souls is James Oswald's second electrifying thriller in the Detective Inspector McLean series. Every year for ten years, a young woman's body was found in Edinburgh at Christmas time: naked, throat slit, body washed clean. Ten years, ten women. The final victim, Kirsty Summers, was Detective Constable Tony McLean's fiancee. But the Christmas Killer made a mistake. In a cellar under a shop, McLean found a torture chamber and put an end to the brutal killing spree. Twelve years later, and a fellow prisoner has just murdered the incarcerated Christmas Killer. But with the arrival of the festive season comes a body. A young woman: 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, frightening explanation? McLean must revisit the most disturbing case of his life and discover what he missed before the killer strikes again... The Book of Souls is the second in the Detective Inspector Mclean series. The first was Natural Causes and the upcoming third will be called The Hangman's Song. Fans of Ian Rankin, Peter James and Stuart McBride will love James Oswald's work. Praise for James Oswald: A star of Scotland's burgeoning crime fiction scene . (Daily Record). James Oswald is the author of the Detective Inspector McLean series of crime novels. The first two in the series, Natural Causes and The Book of Souls, are available from Penguin, with the third title, The Hangman's Song, forthcoming for 2014. He has also written an epic fantasy series, The Ballad of Sir Benfro as well as comic scripts and short stories. In his spare time James runs a 350 acre livestock farm in North East Fife, where he raises pedigree Highland Cattle and New Zealand Romney Sheep.