Detective Inspector Anthony "Tony" McLean is investigating the discovery of a dead girl that has been walled up in a basement of an old estate. As if that's not bad enough Tony also discovers that her internal organs have been removed and placed in six preserving jars around her. The evidence implies that it must have been at last 60 years ago that someone did this, but why? Could this murder be a sacrifice of some kind? It's up to Tony to figure it out. But, this is a cold case, the Edinburgh police have a bigger problem with the murders of prominent city elders. The problem is that the killers commit suicide right after the murder. Which is odd the first time, but then it happens again...and again...

I read The Damage Done, the latest book in the Inspector McLean series a while back and I was a bit confused over the book story. However, after the "interesting" ending did I check up the book and that confirmed my suspicion that this series has a paranormal angle to the stories. And, suddenly the story in The Damage Done made much more sense. So, when I started to read this the first book in this series was I expecting the paranormal angel.

I was impressed with the story in this book, with the weird murders and the dead girl in the basement. I especially like the mix of paranormal in this crime novel. That makes this series a bit more unusual than an ordinary crime series. The main character Tony was raised after his parent's death by his grandmother that's now in the hospital following a stroke. And, 10 years ago his fiancee Kirsty Summers was murdered. So, he hasn't had an easy life and he hasn't much of a private life. Basically, he lives for his job and that's good because he has much to do in this book. He must solve the murders, find out the truth about the girl in the basement, and stop a cat burglar that targets houses of recently deceased people.

It's a dark book, but with humorous banters the characters. I especially like the coroner Angus Cadwallader, he brightens up the book, despite his job. Angus and Tony's scenes are always fun to read, despite the fact that they often met when someone has died.

I found this book, the first in the series to be an excellent book, with an intriguing and thrilling story! ( )

In the first entry in James Oswald’s Inspector McLean series of crime novels, recently promoted Detective Inspector Tony MacLean of the Edinburgh Division of Lothian and Borders Police encounters a series of grisly high-profile murders. The murders quickly become the department’s primary focus, with the investigation overseen by haughty and officious Detective Chief Inspector Charles Duguid. Despite a combative history between the two, MacLean is assigned to Duguid’s team. But shortly after this MacLean is called to a building site where, in a house under renovation, workers have uncovered a concealed room in the basement containing the mummified corpse of a young woman. The meticulous staging and grotesque nature of the injuries to the uncannily preserved body suggest a ritual murder, which, as MacLean learns once the body has been examined, would have taken place roughly 60 years earlier. MacLean, ostensibly working on Duguid’s murder investigation, is deeply troubled by the unidentified young female victim’s horrible fate and finds one excuse after another to divert his energies and attention to the cold case, ultimately concluding that this case and Duguid’s murder cases are linked. In the meantime, MacLean is distracted by developments in his personal life. The deaths of both his parents when he was very young left responsibility for raising him to his grandmother, and she has recently passed away after lingering in a coma for months following a stroke. MacLean, the only heir, is left with the task of sorting out her estate, which, as he discovers when consulting with her lawyer, is quite valuable. But then, in another development, while in his grandmother’s house late one evening despairing over how he’s going to get everything done, he encounters—and, after a brief struggle arrests—a thief in the act of carrying out a burglary. The intricately structured plot follows a multitude of threads through a complex storyline that brings everything together in a surprising conclusion, and in the process offers up red herrings galore and plenty of action sequences. Oswald proves adept at characterization, using backstory to flesh out DI MacLean and his colleagues on the police force as well as the various lawyers, perpetrators and witnesses he encounters, drawing us into their lives and eliciting our sympathy or disdain. Tony MacLean is a man haunted by a tragic past and numerous regrets whose impulsive and obsessive nature often lands him in hot water with his superiors. He disregards orders and his behaviour sometimes borders on insolence, but they tolerate him because of sleuthing skills that enable him to spot connections that escape everyone else. Oswald’s sharply detailed, carefully crafted prose is refreshing and makes Natural Causes interesting on multiple levels, as does his effective use of light and shadow and the vividly drawn Edinburgh setting. Natural Causes is an auspicious inaugural volume in a highly successful and popular Scottish noir series. It is also a novel that stands on its own as a sophisticated entertainment. ( )

Very disappointed with this. Violates rule 2 of Ronald Knox's Ten rules of detective fiction: All supernatural or preternatural agencies are ruled out as a matter of course.
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James Oswald makes his writing debut with Natural Causes, introducing Edinburgh-based Detective Inspector Tony McLean. The novel opens with the discovery of a young woman who has been tortured and murdered in what appears to be a ritualistic manner. Evidence shows she died approximately sixty years ago. In a parallel story line, the city is horrified by a series of robberies and murders where no motive is apparent. McLean is convinced that these deaths are somehow connected to the sixty year old ritualistic killing.

The story is complex and interesting, but I found it hard to keep track of some of the details that were vital to the case. The cast of characters is large and diverse. The author struggled a bit in deciding whether he was writing a paranormal suspense book or a police procedural. Overall, this book was an enjoyable read. The next book in the series looks promising and I hope to read it soon.
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Come thriller è molto lento e a parte gli omicidi sanguinosi non c'è suspance. Come horror non ci siamo per niente, una piccola idea peraltro già vista e rivista. ( )