THE TWISTY FOURTH NOVEL AND SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER, FROM THE GRIPPING INSPECTOR MCLEAN SERIES SET IN EDINBURGH 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 . . .____________PRAISE FOR JAMES OSWALD: ‘A star of Scotland’s burgeoning crime fiction scene’ DAILY RECORD ‘Crime fiction’s next big thing’ SUNDAY TELEGRAPH ‘Literary sensation’ DAILY MAIL ‘Oswald is among the leaders in the new batch of excellent Scottish crime writers’ DAILY MAIL ‘The new Ian Rankin’ DAILY RECORD ‘The hallmarks of Val McDermid or Ian Rankin: it’s dark, violent, noirish’ THE HERALD ‘Oswald’s writing is in a class above most in this genre‘ DAILY EXPRESS

A family lies slaughtered in an isolated house in North East Fife . . .About the Author

James Oswald is the author of the Inspector McLean series of crime novels. The first seven, Natural Causes, The Book of Souls, The Hangman’s Song, Dead Men’s Bones, Prayer for the Dead, The Damage Done and Written in Bones are available as Penguin paperbacks and ebooks. He has also written an epic fantasy series, The Ballad of Sir Benfro, which is published by Penguin, as well as comic scripts and short stories.In his spare time he runs a 350-acre livestock farm in north-east Fife, where he raises pedigree Highland Cattle and New Zealand Romney sheep.

ReviewsThere’s a timely feel to this macabre police procedural, which also has shade of the supernatural. After a top politician shoots his family, Detective Tony McLean uncovers an establishment sex-abuse ring, operated at a mental hospital. Creepy, gritty and gruesome * Sunday Mirror *The hallmarks of Val McDermid or Ian Rankin: it’s dark, violent, noirish * The Herald *Crime fiction’s next big thing * The Sunday Telegraph *Literary sensation . . . James’ overnight success has drawn comparisons with the meteoric rise of E L James and her Fifty Shades of Grey series * Daily Mail *Oswald is among the leaders in the new batch of excellent Scottish crime writers * Daily Mail *Fifty Shades of Hay * The Times *Book InformationISBN 9781405917094Author James OswaldFormat PaperbackPage Count 480Imprint Penguin Books LtdPublisher Penguin Books LtdWeight(grams) 330gDimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 28mm