Natural Causes cover art

Natural Causes

An Inspector McLean Novel, Book 1

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Natural Causes

By: James Oswald
Narrated by: Ian Hanmore
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of James Oswald’s gripping new Inspector McLean crime thriller Natural Causes, read by the actor Ian Hanmore.

A young girl’s mutilated body is discovered in a sealed room. Her remains are carefully arranged, in what seems to have been a cruel and macabre ritual, which appears to have taken place over 60 years ago. 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, almost supernatural theory. And one which will lead McLean closer to the heart of a terrifying and ancient evil…

©2013 James Oswald (P)2013 Penguin Audio Crime Crime Thrillers Horror Mystery Police Procedural Supernatural Suspense Thriller Thriller & Suspense Scary Fiction Paranormal Exciting

Listeners also enjoyed...

 The Murderer's Son cover art
A Litter of Bones: A Scottish Crime Thriller cover art
The Bonnie Dead cover art
The Turning of Our Bones cover art
Dead Man’s Prayer cover art
No Man's Land cover art
A Long Time Dead cover art
The Body in the Marsh cover art
Dead Man’s Grave cover art
Perfect Remains (A DI Callanach Thriller, Book 1) cover art
The Hope That Kills cover art
Grimm Up North cover art
Good Girls Don't Die cover art
The Dentist cover art
The Viaduct Killings cover art
Born in a Burial Gown cover art
All stars
Most relevant
Being new to this author but not to the genre I did wonder what to expect. I was very pleasantly surprised and the key for me were the characters who came over as mostly very genuine though "Dagwood" may have had a hint of the Pantomime villian about him at times. The story does spend most of the time being largely traditional Scottish detective story fayre - and there's nothing wrong with that. The Supernatural slant it has does add some spice and the story felt very well-paced throughout. The key to me though were the well developed characters and I still smile at the mention of "Grumpy Bob"!

Characters Stand Out

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is a multi review of a guilty pleasure. Inspector McLean novels are very entertaining and full of character, first is Edinburgh real streets and fictional ones and the inhabitants of this city, the scottish element of language, CSI on steroids, and the police department the inspector loves and hates, all make for a real treat especially if you know this ancient metropolis old and new streets.
McLean is a very likeable character, obsessed and persecuted by his superiors and the power that be in the city, political and darker ones, he has no financial needs and is more dangerous and obsessed than most police characters, do not get too close to him death walks by his side with no mercy for any one.
This cases are not your everyday procedural faire but all tainted with a twist of the occult, it really should not work but it does and is a great deal of fun to jump into this world. you could read any of this stories on their own, as a matter of fact I sartet from the second book not knowing it was a series, it was just as much fun. Now I would not recommend to read this in a lonly large house, while the wind makes noise, you will begin by hearing voices and the creaking of the floor will increase as the clock approached midnight, apart from that a great read any other time.

The creaking of the floor will increase.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is the third book of the series that I have listened to (I haven't listened to them in order) and there's something about the books that makes me want to hear more.

There are aspects that I don't like, There are some interesting characters but I wish that the author had made the chief inspector more believable, no one could be that difficult and are useless at the job while still progressing in their career.I find it annoying that everyone is constantly against the main character. It makes the books rather predictable after a while but that is a small objection compared with the overall pleasure of listening to the book.

The narrator is excellent and his reading makes the book much more enjoyable. I will definitely buy the next book.

Very well read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
There are many writers who get compared to the leader of the pack. More often than not they are merely a marketing aspiration. But occasionally - just occasionally - a writer comes along who is every bit the challenger their review promises. James Oswald fills the gap between Rankin books like no other writer on the scene; every bit Rankin's equal, and Ian Hanmore's performance compliments Oswald's writing to the very end.

A guaranteed great download for Scottish Noir fans, and especially those of Rankin.

You will not be sorry, and thrilled to add a new favorite author to your 'regular download' list.

The Rankin Comparison That Stands

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
An excellent story with plenty enough to keep the reader/listener guessing. This is very well narrated by Ian Hanmore, making it all the more enjoyable. The story is interesting and the "predictable" elements are predictable only in the sense that the the main character can feel them coming, making them eerie rather than boring. Not everything can be felt though, and even when the reader has an inkling of what's going on, it's still not quite as clear as it seems. All in all, very skilled story-telling and a thoroughly enjoyable read. I hope we'll be hearing more from Inspector MacLean.

An excellent detective story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews