About the Book: Every year for ten years, a young woman’s body was found in Edinburgh at Christmas time: naked, throat slit, body washed clean.
Ten years, ten women.
The final victim, Kirsty Summers, was Detective Constable Tony McLean’s fiancée. But the Christmas Killer made a mistake. In a cellar under a shop, McLean found a torture chamber and put an end to the brutal killing spree.
Twelve years later, and 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 sinister, frightening explanation?
McLean must revisit the most disturbing case of his life and discover what he missed before the killer strikes again .
About the author: James Oswald is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling Inspector McLean series of detective mysteries. The first two of these, Natural Causes and The Book of Souls were both short-listed for the prestigious CWA Debut Dagger Award. Set in an Edinburgh not so different to the one we all know, Detective Inspector Tony McLean is the unlucky policeman who can see beneath the surface of ordinary criminal life to the dark, menacing evil that lurks beneath.
As J D Oswald, James has also written a classic fantasy series, The Ballad of Sir Benfro. Inspired by the language and folklore of Wales, it follows the adventures of a young dragon, Sir Benfro, in a land where his kind have been hunted near to extinction by men. The whole series is now available in print, ebook and audio formats.
James has pursued a varied career – from Wine Merchant to International Carriage Driving Course Builder via Call Centre Operative and professional Sheep Shit Sampler (true). He moved out of the caravan when Storm Gertrude blew the Dutch barn down on top of it, and now lives in a proper house with three dogs, two cats and a long-suffering partner. He farms Highland cows and Romney sheep by day, writes disturbing fiction by night.
My Review: I lost my reading mojo this week, so I thought the best way to reignite it would be to read the next book in a series that I had previously enjoyed and therefore The Book of Souls was a natural choice.
This is the 2nd book in the Tony McLean series and again features some violent murders and a serial killer who is murdering young woman in an identical style as The Christmas Killer who a) murdered Tony McLean’s fiance 10 years ago and b) just died and was buried causing Tony to have to face up to some very personal and uncomfortable demons.
Talking of demons (see what I did there), if you’ve read Natural Causes (book 1), then you will know that these police crime books are slightly different from the norm and do touch on the occult and supernatural which gives the story line an edgy and spooky feel.
I really enjoyed this book and thoroughly recommend it if you are looking for something a bit different.
