Natural Causes

Is Edinburgh turning into Midsummer?

Another Tartan Noir writer. Does so much crime happen in civilised Edinburgh? Wasn't sure about the occult element in this book at first but I think in the end Mr Oswald carried it off. I liked the background story of Insp McLean woven into the body of the plot. I liked the the fact that he is a "nice " young man. The reader had a rather monotone voice whic at first I didn't like but it grew on me. if you can't drop of at night he has a very soothing ,almost hypnotic tone. Persevere with this one if you don't quite take to it at first. I am looking forward to the next one.

23 of 25 people found this review helpful

A Gripping Listen

An excellent, gripping book. I really enjoyed the fact the lead detective was not the usual run of the mill. The story kept me held right to the last page/listen!

20 of 22 people found this review helpful

Keeps you interested

This book ranks in the top 30% of the audiobooks I have listened to. It is very well narrated by Ian Hanmore; with a strong, if a tad predictable, story line by James Oswald. You are certainly entertained and kept interested all the way through. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a crime mystery.

17 of 19 people found this review helpful

Brilliant

I loved this first book and cannot wait for the follow ups!
It grabs your attention from the start and keeps it. I am an ardant reader of detective/murder novels such as Peter May, Stuart Mcbride and Peter James this falls into that genre with very gruesome murders but with a paranormal slant which was enjoyable and believable.
The main characters are also likeable getting just enough of their background stories to leave you wanting more.
This farmer writes a smashing book - hurry up with the next one!

27 of 31 people found this review helpful

Dark....and gritty

Dark, grisly and macabre, I was engrossed with this detective novel from the beginning. The only reason it's a four star instead of a 5 star, is your waiting for Inspector Mclean to catch on what you have already worked out, I'm more of a whodunnit girl.
On the other hand the fully fleshed out surrounding characters where a delight and I really felt I was a fly on the wall in this fictitious police station.

Not for the faint of heart it's pretty galling in places but this is tempered by the great characters, convoluted storyline and the calm level headed detective Mclean..looking forward to more..

31 of 37 people found this review helpful

Rebus watch out - the new boy's in town !

This is dark, grisly, deep in characters, well performed and i cannot wait for the follow up.
There are so many threads to this story that can be picked up and woven into a very good series of novels.
I listened to this whilst travelling - almost all in one session it was so good.
Fully recommended

17 of 20 people found this review helpful

Thoroughly enjoyable 'Scot Cop' novel

Any additional comments?

Either I keep choosing Scot Cop stories or there seems to be a lot of them about at the moment! Either way I love them! This one is set in Edinburgh and mentions places within the local area. The narrator is a chap with a nice Scottish accent which adds authenticity to the characters (he also narrates Stuart MacBride's recent books). I very much enjoyed this story and have downloaded the next, having never heard of the author before now.

This is a pretty regular cop story, ticks along nicely, has enjoyable characters, doesn't dawdle in the story-telling and has a couple of interesting crimes to investigate. It does have an ever-so slightly 'supernatural/fantasy' moment or two as one of the crimes seems to be tinged with some devil-worship sort of vibe, but this is not a strong theme so don't let this put you off if you are not a 'fantasy' sort of person (I'm not a fan myself and wouldn't consider reading John Connolly for example, so I was glad that there was only the odd mutter of hocus-pocus and only to do with that one case!). I would definitely recommend this story to others!

12 of 14 people found this review helpful

Gothic horror not detective fiction

Detective fiction, though popular, is an over-crowded genre and a new writer needs to have something new to offer other than appear to apply a check-list of clichés. Unfortunately the latter are duly trotted out: maverick detective inspector putting his job on the line, whose young partner died under tragic circumstances some years before; parents killed in an accident when he was young; in perpetual conflict with his DCI, who needless to say isn’t nearly as good a detective; chief superintendent breathing down his neck over getting quick results. However, in this his first book the author has added something new: gothic horror with elaborate and gruesome killings filling the morgue in Edinburgh where, true to the formula, the droll pathologist quips as he cuts. Not only are there too many macabre deaths but the way they are connected defies belief and to overcome this the supernatural is employed. What started as an interesting case degenerates into grotesque hokum and it became obvious who the perpetrator was long before the book ended, though what made him do it was ludicrous.

The hype for this book compared the author to Ian Rankin, but using Edinburgh as the backdrop is the only similarity. Rankin is in a different class not just because his writing and stories are better and more realistic, but because he evokes Edinburgh and creates characters that live in the mind’s eye, whereas, by the end of Natural Causes, I have no image of Tony McLean the DI nor any of the other principal characters and, if I didn’t know Edinburgh well, I’d have got little from this book. There are descriptions of roads walked that a map would provide but no colour of what the city is like. There are odd little errors that make me think the author doesn’t visit the city very often.

The narrator is good at the nuances of different Scottish accents and, unlike some depictions of Edinburgh, doesn’t populate the place with Glaswegians: lovely people that they are they do have a different accent.

31 of 38 people found this review helpful

Detective with a supernatural twist

I enjoyed this book but would not say best I ever read enjoyed the narration and the elements of the supernatural especially at the end when I could see how it fitted together. It was a good read and I would recommend it. This is the first book in the series and will be interested to see what next one will bring.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Marvellous

Gripping. It starts up at a reasonable pace and just keeps going. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A marvelous investment of just one credit and I am not Scottish.

12 of 15 people found this review helpful