The Hangman’s Song by James Oswald

It’s back over to Mandie who is sharing her thoughts on The Hangman’s Song, book three in James Oswald’s INspector McLean series. Here’s what the book is all about:

About the Book

Look out for the fourth instalment in the bestselling Inspector McLean series, Dead Men’s Bones, available for pre-order from Penguin.

A young man is found hanging by a rope in his Edinburgh home. A simple, sad suicide, yet Detective Inspector Tony McLean is puzzled by the curious suicide note. A second hanged man and another strange note hint at a sinister pattern.

Investigating a brutal prostitution and human trafficking ring, McLean struggles to find time to link the two suicides. But the discovery of a third convinces him of malicious intent.

Digging deeper, McLean finds answers much closer to home than he expects. Something terrifying stalks the city streets, and bringing it to justice may destroy all he holds dear.

Mandie’s Thoughts

I am really loving re reading the Inspector McLean series in my quest to catch up with the whole series and I have to admit I had forgotten just how much this one had appealed to my twisted sense of humour with one particular scene once again making me go ewwww and hehehe at the same time.

Following on from events in The Book of Souls, Tony once again finds himself spending time at the hospital waiting to see if a loved one will wake up and the guilt is eating him up. When the body of a man is found in what appears to be a case of suicide Tony finds himself doing battle with his superiors to be allowed to investigate as he is sure there is something not quite right. When other similar cases spring up, he finds himself getting increasingly frustrated as the powers that be just want them signed off and done and dusted as quickly as possible. Added to this he is also working with the sex crimes division and gets too involved in one particular case there. Spread thin he seems to be dropping the ball left and right and alienating both departments. If it wasn’t for the loyalty of his own team you often wonder if he would just pack it all in… there are those in the station that would love him to if the elaborate and expensive pranks are anything to go by.

As much as I like the character of Tony McLean you can’t help but thinking that at times both his personal and professional lives are a bit of a train wreck. His approach doesn’t always win him fans amongst his colleagues, but I would still rather have him investigating and not taking the easy way out to get a result. He as a moral compass that is unwavering which is unfortunate if you happen to get on his radar for not following procedure or are operating on the wrong side of the law.

Mrs McCutcheon’s cat is as much a character in the story as the people are. Feigning indifference at the best of times, it seems to have both Tony & Emma’s back when needed and I love the fact that Madame Rose is also back, once again giving Tony advice and nudging him to think outside the normal for answers. Add them to the team of Grumpy Bob, DS Ritchie and DC MacBride you have a group of characters that you can really take to ensuring that you don’t get bored and like me cant wait to get stuck in to the next case for Tony and co.

About the Author

James Oswald is the author of the Detective Inspector McLean series of crime novels. The first two books, Natural Causes and The Book of Souls, are also available as paperbacks and ebooks. He has also written an epic fantasy series, as well as comic scripts and short stories. In his spare time, Oswald runs a 350-acre livestock farm in North East Fife, Scotland, where he raises pedigree Highland Cattle.