Wildfire has netted three new books in James Oswald’s bestselling Inspector McLean series in a six-figure deal. 

Alex Clarke, publishing director, and Jack Butler, fiction publisher, acquired UK and commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) from Juliet Mushens at Mushens Entertainment.

Oswald’s Edinburgh-based Inspector McLean series launched with Natural Causes in 2012, published by Penguin until Wildfire took over publication with the ninth book in the series. The first of the as-yet-untitled Inspector McLean novels will be published in spring 2024, following directly on from the 12th instalment in the series, All That Lives, which published in February this year. 

Clarke and Butler said: “James is a major force in the crime-writing community, with an incredibly loyal and growing readership, and we are over the moon to be signing him up for more books. McLean is a gift of a lead character and 10 years of growth in the series is a massive testament to this so it is truly exciting that James and Tony will be delighting readers for years to come.” 

Oswald added: “I never imagined, all those years ago when I first wrote Natural Causes, that I’d ever get to book 12 in the series, let alone be planning towards book 15. Alex and Jack and all the team at Wildfire have been hugely supportive of the series. I’m looking forward to working with them again and to finding out what’s happening to Tony McLean after the momentous conclusion to All That Lives.”