Written in Bones cover art

Written in Bones

Inspector McLean 7

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Written in Bones

By: James Oswald
Narrated by: Ian Hanmore
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About this listen

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Written in Bones by James Oswald, read by Ian Hanmore.

The roots of murder run deep...

When a body is found in a tree in The Meadows, Edinburgh's scenic parkland, the forensics suggest the corpse has fallen from a great height.

Detective Inspector Tony McLean wonders whether it was an accident, or a murder designed to send a chilling message?

The dead man had led quite a life: a disgraced ex-cop turned criminal kingpin who reinvented himself as a celebrated philanthropist.

As McLean traces the victim's journey, it takes him back to Edinburgh's past, and through its underworld - crossing paths with some of its most dangerous and most vulnerable people.

And waiting at the end of it all, is the truth behind a crime that cuts to the very heart of the city...

***

PRAISE FOR THE INSPECTOR McLEAN SERIES

'Crime fiction's next big thing'
Sunday Telegraph

'Oswald's writing is in a class above most'
Daily Express

'Creepy, gritty and gruesome'
Sunday Mirror

'The new Ian Rankin'
Daily Record

'Hugely enjoyable'
Mirror

'Oswald is among the leaders in the new batch of excellent Scottish crime writers'
Daily Mail

Crime Thrillers Mystery Police Procedural Suspense Thriller Thriller & Suspense Fiction Crime Scary

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Critic reviews

Inspector McLean returns in the seventh instalment of James Oswald's gritty, compelling crime series, for his most mysterious murder investigation yet . . .

The roots of murder run deep . . .

When a body is found in a tree in The Meadows, Edinburgh's scenic parkland, the forensics suggest the corpse has fallen from a great height.

Detective Inspector Tony McLean wonders whether it was an accident, or a murder designed to send a chilling message?

The hallmarks of Val McDermid or Ian Rankin: it's dark, violent, noirish
Crime fiction's next big thing
Oswald is among the leaders in the new batch of excellent Scottish crime writers
Fifty Shades of Hay
All stars
Most relevant
Well read as ever, with familiar characters and evil doers making a reappearance. Twists and turns, life in peril, and emotions we can all understand. But that ending? Oh my, the wait for the next book will be torture!

Cliffhanger!

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Just when I was starting to think that maybe this would be the last of the Inspector McLean books I would listen to I was once again glued. The detecting was more main stream than in the past with the weird limited (more or less) to a 'dragon' dropping a body in a tree to start the story off. I enjoyed the story and the characters and, as always, Ian Hanmore's reading.

On top form

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I love James Oswald's books and read by the wonderful Ian Hanmore makes them irresistible.

Another great read from the faultless James Oswald

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Any additional comments?

You know how it is when an author has an annoying habit, and it starts to spoil your enjoyment of their books? Well somebody please tell James Oswald to stop having McLean's junior officers constantly tripping over their dialogue, whenever speaking to McLean about a colleague: "Yes sir, John's.....er.....Constable Smith is questioning them now". Once in a while yes, but not every bloody time!

Not the author's best work

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I loved this book. The story was good with a bit of a twist at the end. Well written and beautifully read.

Another Wonderful Inspector McLean Novel

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