The Violent Hour
On sale
2nd July 2026
Price: £20
Genre
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.
‘Do yourself a favour and read James Oswald’s series. I can almost guarantee you won’t stop at one’ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ READER REVIEW
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?
Praise for James Oswald:
‘The new Ian Rankin’ Daily Record
‘Creepy, gritty and gruesome’ Sunday Mirror
‘Oswald’s writing is in a class above most’ Daily Express
‘Do yourself a favour and read James Oswald’s series. I can almost guarantee you won’t stop at one’ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ READER REVIEW
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?
Praise for James Oswald:
‘The new Ian Rankin’ Daily Record
‘Creepy, gritty and gruesome’ Sunday Mirror
‘Oswald’s writing is in a class above most’ Daily Express
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Reviews
The new Ian Rankin
Creepy, gritty and gruesome
Oswald's writing is in a class above most
James Oswald is one of this country's consistently superior crime writers