Scan barcode
A review by storyman
De mort naturelle by James Oswald
5.0
Natural Causes is a self-published crime novel by James Oswald, which was short-listed for the CWA Debut Dagger.
Set in Edinburgh, it’s about Inspector McLean’s investigation of a decades old ritual murder, which seems to tie in with present day mayhem, as a spate of killings afflicts some of the city’s high-end residents. The story starts with the gruesome murder of a young woman, whose body gets ripped open and six of her body parts placed in alcoves circling her nailed-to-the-floor body. She is found decades later, walled up in a long-abandoned Edinburgh house’s basement. The story grabs your ears and makes you stare at it from the start, with a murder so foul you can’t help looking, in reading terms, even if through screwed-tight eyes. McLean is an entirely sympathetic character (which is not necessarily a must for me as I like the devil Pete Bondurant in James Ellroy’s deranged novels) who has to solve a number of cases, while helping, and getting obstructed by, an incompetent superior who despises him and a station chief with one eye on politics. Like many fictional detectives, he has a tortured past, a liking for whiskey, and relationship problems, but none of it feels clichéd. I like how his past is slowly revealed throughout, to show a tragically familiar, but not reader-worn, protagonist.
The story is fast paced, but the occasional reflective scene lets the story breathe, giving it serious emotional heft, and later shredding your nervous system in fear for the man. The murders are gruesome, and their reasons satisfying, the plot structured beautifully. A kidnapping towards the end forced me into a gut-wrenching “oh no”, knowing what came before. You’ll see the ending, but then you won’t.
I’d read, before downloading it, that it had elements of the supernatural, which put me off a little. Not knowing the fine points I dreaded a psychic detective who solved it all by contrived visions. Or, God help us, with a hand from vampires. Thankfully, it’s subtle, and it leaves you guessing. Ambiguity is often far more chilling – just look at how more unsettling The Others is than the Saw films.
The only criticism I have, and I’ll tread carefully here as my novel sees the light of day, is the number of typos, of which there are a few. However, the story is so strong, up there with the best of Rebus, that you can forgive it all. As many have – the book has had over 100,000 downloads, and has tons of five-star ratings.
It’s 5 out of 5 without typos. With the typos, it’s still 5 out of 5. I can’t wait to read the follow-up Book of Souls.
Overall, I recommend it if you love character-driven crime fiction and love that sense of dread in a story. It’s not recommended if you like the supernatural in your face.
This review first appeared at jdbeech.wordpress.com
Set in Edinburgh, it’s about Inspector McLean’s investigation of a decades old ritual murder, which seems to tie in with present day mayhem, as a spate of killings afflicts some of the city’s high-end residents. The story starts with the gruesome murder of a young woman, whose body gets ripped open and six of her body parts placed in alcoves circling her nailed-to-the-floor body. She is found decades later, walled up in a long-abandoned Edinburgh house’s basement. The story grabs your ears and makes you stare at it from the start, with a murder so foul you can’t help looking, in reading terms, even if through screwed-tight eyes. McLean is an entirely sympathetic character (which is not necessarily a must for me as I like the devil Pete Bondurant in James Ellroy’s deranged novels) who has to solve a number of cases, while helping, and getting obstructed by, an incompetent superior who despises him and a station chief with one eye on politics. Like many fictional detectives, he has a tortured past, a liking for whiskey, and relationship problems, but none of it feels clichéd. I like how his past is slowly revealed throughout, to show a tragically familiar, but not reader-worn, protagonist.
The story is fast paced, but the occasional reflective scene lets the story breathe, giving it serious emotional heft, and later shredding your nervous system in fear for the man. The murders are gruesome, and their reasons satisfying, the plot structured beautifully. A kidnapping towards the end forced me into a gut-wrenching “oh no”, knowing what came before. You’ll see the ending, but then you won’t.
I’d read, before downloading it, that it had elements of the supernatural, which put me off a little. Not knowing the fine points I dreaded a psychic detective who solved it all by contrived visions. Or, God help us, with a hand from vampires. Thankfully, it’s subtle, and it leaves you guessing. Ambiguity is often far more chilling – just look at how more unsettling The Others is than the Saw films.
The only criticism I have, and I’ll tread carefully here as my novel sees the light of day, is the number of typos, of which there are a few. However, the story is so strong, up there with the best of Rebus, that you can forgive it all. As many have – the book has had over 100,000 downloads, and has tons of five-star ratings.
It’s 5 out of 5 without typos. With the typos, it’s still 5 out of 5. I can’t wait to read the follow-up Book of Souls.
Overall, I recommend it if you love character-driven crime fiction and love that sense of dread in a story. It’s not recommended if you like the supernatural in your face.
This review first appeared at jdbeech.wordpress.com