Synopses & Reviews
[headline] A DETECTIVE INSPECTOR McLEAN NOVEL
“Crime fiction’s next big thing . . . Combines old-fashioned sleuthing with supernatural intuition.” — Sunday Telegraph
The body of a man is found hanging in an empty house. To the Edinburgh police force, this appears to be a simple suicide case. But something about the scene strikes Detective Inspector Tony McLean as off. Days later another body is found hanging from an identical rope, with a noose tied in the identical way. McLean is convinced that these people are either being murdered or somehow coerced into suicide. Then a third body is found.
Under pressure from his superiors to wrap the case up quickly and neatly, McLean must also deal with the fallout of his last big investigation and complications in his personal life. But the deeper he digs, the more he comes to believe that something dark and sinister is stalking Edinburgh’s streets. Will he be able to stop it before someone else succumbs to the hangman’s song?
“Engrossing.” — Publishers Weekly
[AU PHOTO] JAMES OSWALD is the author of the Detective Inspector McLean series of crime novels. A crime writer by night, during the day he runs a 350-acre livestock farm in North East Fife, Scotland, where he raises Highland cattle and sheep.
Review
"Oswald juggles the multiple story lines with ease, and McLean is a reluctant, empathetic hero who refuses to quit until he’s solved the case." --Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
When a marriage proposal appears imminent for the beautiful -- if rebellious -- Lady Rose Summer, her father wants to know if her suitor's intentions are honorable. He calls on Captain Harry Cathcart, the impoverished younger son of a baron, to do some intelligence work on the would-be fiancee, Sir Geoffrey Blandon.
After his success in uncovering Geoffrey's dishonorable motives, Harry fashions a career out of "fixing" things for wealthy aristocrats. So when the Marquess of Hedley finds one of his guests dead at a lavish house party, he knows just the man to call.
But when Harry is caught between his client's desire for discretion and his suspicion that murder may indeed have been committed, he enlists the help of Superintendent Kerridge of the Scotland Yard and Lady Rose, also a guest at Lord Hedley's.
Set in Britain and the Edwardian world of parties, servants, and scandal, M. C. Beaton's Snobbery with Violence is a delightful combination of murderous intrigue and high society.
Synopsis
The second electrifying mystery in the Detective Inspector McLean series, from "a star of Scotland's burgeoning crime fiction scene" (Daily Record).
Synopsis
Each year for ten years, a young womans body was found in Edinburgh at Christmastime: 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.
Its now twelve years later. 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 frightening explanation?
McLean must revisit the most disturbing case of his life and discover what he missed before the killer strikes again . . .
Synopsis
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.
Synopsis
A young girl's mutilated body is discovered in a room that has lain sealed for the last sixty years. Her remains are carefully arranged in what seems to have been a macabre ritual.
For newly appointed Edinburgh Detective Inspector Tony McLean, this baffling cold case ought to be a low priority, but he is haunted by the young victim and her grisly death. Meanwhile, the city is horrified by a series of bloody killings—deaths for which there appears to be neither rhyme nor reason, and which leave Edinburgh's police at a loss.
McLean is convinced that these deaths are somehow connected to the terrible ceremonial killing of the girl, all those years ago. It is an irrational theory. And one that will lead McLean closer to the heart of a terrifying and ancient evil . . .
Synopsis
From "crime fiction's next big thing" (The Sunday Telegraph), comes the strange and exciting third entry in the Detective Inspector McLean series.
Synopsis
The body of a man is found hanging in an empty house. To the Edinburgh police force, this appears to be a simple suicide case. But something about the scene strikes Detective Inspector Tony McLean as off. Days later another body is found hanging from an identical rope, with a noose tied in the identical way. McLean is convinced that these people are either being murdered or somehow coerced into suicide. Then a third body is found.
While McLean attempts to solve the case — assuming he can convince his superiors that it is a case — he also must deal with the fallout from his last big investigation: A coworker is still hospitalized six months after being hurt on the job, and his relations with his superior officer dont seem to be improving. Will he be able to navigate the office politics and figure out what is going on before someone else is found hanging?
About the Author
M. C. BEATON, the British guest of honor at Bouchercon 2006, is a New York Times bestselling romance and suspense writer who has been hailed as the “Queen of Crime" (The Globe and Mail). She is the author of twenty-three Agatha Raisin novels, whose fans range from the actress Elizabeth Hurley to the Archbishop of Canterbury, as well as the Hamish Macbeth series. Born in Scotland, she now divides her time between Paris and the English Cotswolds.