James Oswald Books

Description /Buy link takes you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.

James Oswald is a farmer from the South of England that has made a name writing Fantasy Novels and Crime Fiction.

James Oswald learned to be independent at a young age. The author was sent to boarding school when he was seven, only coming back home when he joined Aberdeen University more than a decade later. James studied psychology. Though, by the time the author graduated, he knew that the field wasn’t his cup of tea.

James then experimented with Artificial Intelligence in Edinburgh before realizing that his math skills and computer programming abilities were not on par with those of his classmates and he abandoned the course. By the 1990s, the author had turned to writing, an activity he initially did as a hobby but which he was now forced to pursue as a means of making a living.

Unfortunately, there was little in the way of success there and it took a series of meaningless jobs to help James stay afloat financially for the next two decades. James, none the less, persevered because he was determined to keep writing until he made it.

As the years went by and James experimented with every possible career from agricultural consultancy to complaints handling and even Wine trading, a tragedy drove James Oswald to Fife where the family farm was situated. James’ parents were involved in a car accident that took their lives. James took over running the three hundred fifty acre farm near the Silvery Tay.

However, even with his new situation, James kept writing, working on the farm by day and putting his ideas to paper at night.

The author’s big break came in the early 2010s. The first of James’ Detective Inspector McLean books hit the shelves. Unveiling thrilling tales based in Edinburgh, the books garnered rave reviews and piqued the interest of the public.

James Oswald started out in self-publishing. His first two eBooks were far bigger hits than he could have expected. James’ rising popularity attracted the interest of Penguin which offered him a book deal.

While many of the author’s fans know him for the McLean mystery novels, James is also responsible for The Ballard of Sir Benfro, a fantasy series. When he’s not writing books, he’s probably writing at his blog at fliskmillan.com.

James Oswald Awards

Besides being a Sunday Times Bestselling author, James Oswald has had the pleasure of being shortlisted for the CWA Dagger Award.

Best James Oswald Books

James is still a sensation as the farmer turned bestselling author, with some of the best books James Oswald has to offer including:

The Book of Souls: For ten years, Edinburgh struggled under the threat of an unseen killer. It had become the norm to find the naked corpse of a woman in Edinburgh at around Christmastime each year. And this pattern seemed set to continue.

But then the killer made a mistake. He took Kirsty Summers, fiancée to Detective Constable Tony McLean. This put him in the sights of the Detective who put a stop to his spree of mayhem.

More than a decade has passed since those events. When a new body, a naked young woman, is discovered during the festive season, McLean is put to the task of revisiting everything he thought he knew about the previous murder spree.

McLean knows that the original Christmas Killer was murdered by one of his colleagues in prison. McLean must find this new killer before he claims another victim.

The second book in the Detective McLean books takes readers back to Edinburgh. McLean must revisit the trauma of his fiancé’s death from over a decade ago when the murders of a criminal he thought he had stopped surface.

There’s also a series of warehouse fires in play and the wrangles shaking up McLean’s department.

Prayer for the Dead: A man is found murdered beneath Edinburgh in a network of caves and passages. The man was clearly the victim of a macabre ritual and the murder scene was obviously staged. Inspector Tony McLean finds that he knows the victim.

However, that knowledge does little to shed light on the case, especially when the forensics team begins revealing some truly baffling information. McLean knows there’s more than meets the eye.

McLean must work with the allies he stumbles upon along the way to find a dark and depraved murderer.

This book starts with Detective McLean being asked by Jo Dalgliesh to look for her colleague, a reporter.

Even though this book is the fifth in the series, one doesn’t need to read prior novels to follow the events that play out.

Dreamwalker: The first book in the Ballad of Sir Benfro series is one of James’ best. The book centers on a young boy named Errol who is trying to make his way in the world, in a small village that is far away from the Twin Kingdoms. He’s a complete outsider in his village as he looks different from everyone else and has no idea who his father is with no one really having a clue as to where he came from. There is also a dragon named Benfro that lives deep in the forest who is destined to be a great Mage, like his mother. When the two meet, you know that an epic tale is about to begin.

This is a fun book that is just the start of an epic adventure, but tells it through the eyes of a child just finding his way in the world. The characters are well rounded and the book tells a good story, but I should warn that this is definitely a part one of a much longer story. The book kind of leaves you hanging, waiting on the next one, but overall it is a great book that gets you ready to read that next book.

When Does The Next James Oswald book come out?

James Oswald doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is For Our Sins and was released on February, 15th 2024. It is the newest book in the Inspector McLean Series.

Home » Author » James Oswald

BookSeries.org