The Book of Souls by James Oswald

Each year for ten years, a young woman’s body was found in Edinburgh at Christmastime: naked, throat slit, body washed clean. The final victim, Kirsty Summers, was Detective Constable Tony McLean’s fiancee. But the Christmas Killer made a mistake, and McLean put an end to the brutal killing spree.

Author: James Oswald

Genre: Crime

Tag: Edinburgh

Series: Inspector McLean

Published: November 22nd 2012

Page Count: 448

Category: Read in 2020

This book was excellent. I could not put it down! I was gripped from the very beginning. I was slightly confused about where the story was heading for a short time at the beginning of the book but that just made me want to continue reading. Tony McLean is an amazing character that is easily relatable despite his complicated background and unfortunate events that have affected his life.

It’s now twelve years later. 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 frightening explanation?

McLean must revisit the most disturbing case of his life and discover what he missed before the killer strikes again .

This is the second book in the Inspector McLean series and if you love a good British Crime series with strong interesting characters then this book is for you. I haven’t read Oswald’s first book Natural Causes but I am on the lookout for it and will do.