Marked by the recent loss of his only son, Inspector Fin Macleod, already investigating a murder in Edinburgh, is sent to Lewis, his native island, which he hasn't visited for eighteen years. A body executed according to the same
Still grieving the recent loss of his only son, Detective Inspector Fin Macleod, already investigating a murder in Edinburgh, is sent to Lewis, his native island, which he hasn't visited in eighteen years. A body executed using the same modus operandi has just been discovered there. However, as soon as the medical examiner performs the autopsy, Fin no longer believes there's a connection between the two cases.
On this tempestuous island off the north coast of Scotland, covered in moors, where peat is used for heating, the Christian Sabbath is still observed, and Gaelic is spoken, Fin encounters the figures of his childhood, beginning with Ange, the tyrannical leader of the gang he belonged to. Marsaili, his first love, now lives with Artair. This same Artair whose father lost his life saving Fin's during the expedition that, every year for centuries, has taken a dozen men to An Sgeir, an inhospitable rock several hours away by boat, to kill nesting birds.
What happened eighteen years ago between these men, what is the secret that weighs on them and resurfaces today?
Against a backdrop of ancient traditions of absolute cruelty, Peter May plunges us into the heart of his investigator Fin Macleod's personal story. False leads, double entendres, chilling scenes: the author keeps the reader in suspense until the very last page.
