Again James Oswald has us gripped from the first page. Carrying on the characters from previous books loving how they are evolving excited to read the next installment.
Fantastic read! Finished in one sitting. Highly recommended

Fantastic couldnt put this book down. Great to see the old characters back with some continued battles and unexpected alliances. This whole series is to be devoured and this latest instalment is no exception. Hoping book 8 will be out soon. Many thanks

Love Tony McLean, as usual a twisted,convoluted story line with a happy ending apart from the Alfa Romeo!!! Some interesting new characters.

Another dramatic instalment in the McLean series. Well written, fast paced and full of Scottish humour if slightly unrealistic with stealth technology and secret services involved.

Very good and enthralling police procedural, but ruined by the totally unbelievable ending. Was enjoying the book until the main protagonist, well written until that point, goes totally alone to confront the killer. No professional policeman would ever do that. This blooper is then overshadowed by the helicopter accident. Such a shame!

I have read every book of this series and was so surprised to be granted the chance to read it early via NetGalley. Needless to say, the book is absolutely brilliant. Oswald's writing never ceases to impress, making it impossible to put the book down. I loved the story, leaving me guessing almost until the very end, and as always the supernatural element intertwined within the plot makes it even more intriguing to read. I love all the characters within the series, even those introduced in this book - only downside was the decision to omit DC MacBride from the series, he was one of my favourites! All in all, a fantastic book, 10/10, 5/5, whatever you want to say... I recommend this to ANY thriller/mystery lover that also enjoy a bit of the dark side.

What I Thought:

Throughout the Inspector McLean series James Oswald had managed to combine crime fiction with the supernatural. For some this may not work, for me James Oswald manages to hit that sweet spot, he adds something a little extra to the plot but without taking it so far that someone who isn't really interested in the supernatural would be put off. For me Written in Bones is no different. Written in Bones begins with a body stuck in a tree, it soon becomes apparent that the body has been dropped into the tree and once again Detective Inspector McLean has managed to end up stuck in the middle of a strange investigation. During the course of the novel it soon becomes clear that there's more to the investigation than was first thought, and the body in the tree is actually linked to an unsolved case none of the senior team are keen to see reopened.
James Oswald has always had interesting plots, and a great mixture of darkness and light. The description of the crime scenes can be quite gory, but there has always been a great injection of humour. Written In Bones is no different, the novel kept me turning pages (virtually at least) far into the night, eager to get to the conclusion and chuckling along the way. That said the real draw of the Inspector McLean series for me has always been the characters.

Written In Bones sees the return of fabulous Detective Inspector Anthony McLean. McLean always finds himself in the middle of a strange investigation. Financially secure he has no interest in playing politics and his determined to see the investigation through to its true conclusion, often to the annoyance of his senior officers. McLean is accompanied once again by his usual supporting cast; Grumpy Bob, DCI McIntyre, Charles Duiguid and Emma Baird amongst others all return. The reality of staffing levels of Police Scotland is reflected with the introduction of a few new characters as three uniformed officers take the step up to acting DC. None of them are bad characters, however DC Harrison seems the most developed of the three and I hope that she will be sticking around into the next book.

Written In Bones is the seventh book in the series; whenever a book comes out that is part of a series that I've not yet started I wonder if my enjoyment of the novel is going to be lessened by having not read the preceding books, that potentially I will be put off the entire series because I've not read the books in order. Initially I didn't read the McLean books in order, I started with the audiobook of Dead Men's Bones which is the fourth book in the series. I enjoyed it enough that I went back and brought Natural Causes and read the series in order, I certainly think I enjoyed Dead Men's Bones even more on the second reading because I had the back story of the characters. It's definitely possible to read Written In Bones as a stand alone novel, and I think you would appreciate the plot. I would however recommend reading the series from the beginning to truly appreciate and enjoy the book. Throughout the series James Oswald has built on the relationships between the characters and this continues within Written In Bones. The story also sees the return of a character from a previous book who plays a key part in the plot. You will still understand the conclusion without having read the previous book but understanding the history of the character will definately add something to your reading of the book. For those who have followed Tony from the first book there's definately a development that will make you smile towards the end.

Would I Recommend it?

Without a doubt. In Natural Causes James Oswald introduced a great cast of characters and a fantastic concept. Seven books in he is still going strong. If you're already a fan of James Oswald and Tony McLean Written In Bones will not disappoint. If you're new to James Oswald grab a copy of Natural Causes and start at the beginning to get the most out of it.

*Book review is scheduled to be published to the below blog on 22nd February. It will be linked to on Twitter and also posted to Goodreads.

I have been a fan of James Oswald since his self publishing days. It is nice to see all the hard work paying off with each new book in the series as they get better and better. The opening chapter of the book was especially well written as you could imagine that must be what it's like to suddenly find yourself falling out of an aircraft with no hope of survival.
It was also nice to see a happy ending for Tony at the end of the book and let's hope in the next instalment nothing goes wrong for them.
I would highly recommend this 5 star book.
Looking forward to book 8

Another exceptional tale in the Inspector Tony McLean series. It maintains the darkness of previous stories with another offbeat tale of foul deeds involving a body in a tree and how did it arrive there? Quite superb!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for an advance copy of Written In Bones, the seventh novel to feature Edinburgh based DI Tony McLean.

The novel opens with a man in free fall and then cuts to the discovery of a body in the trees beside the quaintly named Jawbone Walk. It is obvious he has been dropped from a great height but from what? The young boy who heard it thinks it was a dragon but no one else does. The identity of the body puts every senior officer into a panic as Bill Chalmers was not only a policeman but a drug user and supplier. Once out of prison, however, he re-invented himself as a philanthropist helping other addicts. With no one wanting to touch the case with a barge pole it falls to Tony to see it through.

I thoroughly enjoyed Written In Bones. The plot is good, if not very plausible, with plenty of twists and turns and it kept me enthralled from start to finish. The strength of the novel, however, lies in the characterisation and their interactions. Tony McLean is, to paraphrase, a loner in a team environment. Independently wealthy and minded he has the freedom to do what is right which many others don't and it leads to friction. He doesn't play well with his immediate superiors, DCI Spence and Supt. Brooks, which leads to said friction and some humorous lines, especially when he disregards their "advice". Tony is an appealing character with his clever thinking, kindness to others and knack of upsetting the status quo. That said, he must be a nightmare to manage!

It is not just Tony who is well drawn. You get a real sense of the other characters as well from Grumpy Bob, Tony's Sergeant who is a bit work shy to DCC "call-me-Stevie" Robinson who climbed the greasy pole by doing favours and looking the other way.

The novel has no supernatural element to it, something I've come to expect in Mr Oswald's writing, and while it's something I normally avoid like the plague I like the gentle hints of it in this series and I sort of missed finding out more about why Tony is "special".

Written In Bones is a great read with a bit of everything so I have no hesitation in recommending it.