The Violent Hour

Festival season. The streets are filled to bursting with tourists, and Edinburgh is gripped by a stifling heatwave. Not the best time for one of the most violent murders the city has witnessed in years.


The victim of the murder cannot be identified; its brutal nature of the shocking both the public and the police. What could possibly have inflicted such gruesome injuries? Was it a wild animal on the loose, or the beginning of some horrific gang warfare?


Another body is found on Musselburgh Beach: naked, comatose . . . but this time still alive. DI Tony McLean can't shake the feeling that there is a connection to the killing - but there are few leads for him and the team to go by.


The police are at a loss, and the city is on edge - will the killer strike again?

 

'A thrilling page turner . . . The Violent Hour is James Oswald at the height of his powers'

IMRAN MAHMOOD


'A fast-paced procedural with plenty of surprises - while this might have been my first Tony McLean outing, it certainly won't be my last'

TARIQ ASHKANANI


'Written with real skill and heart . . . a propulsive and gripping read from start to finish'

DOUG JOHNSTONE


'Gripping and sharply observed . . . a real page-turner!'

CHARLOTTE ESSEX


'Gruesome and gripping . . . The Violent Hour is another standout'

ROBBIE MORRISON


'James Oswald at his finest, his darkest, his most inventive'

R. D. McLEAN

 

'The new Ian Rankin' Daily Record


'Creepy, gritty and gruesome' Sunday Mirror


'Oswald's writing is in a class above most' Daily Express