DI Kelso Strang

DCI Kelso Strang is led to believe that something very odd is going on around the prosperous fishing port of Tarleton on Scotland's south-east coast. Firstly, a young Detective Inspector is traumatised after witnessing a doctor throwing herself off a cliff, and accusations of extortion have riven the local community. And when the ugly death of a young farmer sets off a murder investigation, Strang finds himself caught in a spider's web of criminality. He is entirely unprepared when he is struck by the worst tragedy of his career, even though it has also brought him into contact with a young advocate's assistant called Catriona, daughter of DI Marjory Fleming.

There's something sinister about Drumdalloch Woods in the Black Isle near Inverness. It is a place of tangled growth and shadowy darkness, it has business opportunists, biological scientists and conflicted family members all competing for a say in its future. Then a body is found, and everything starts to look suspicious. As DCI Kelso Strang's investigation grows more complex, he unearths layers of hatred, greed and revenge that cast doubt even on the local police force. Having only just found happiness with his new girlfriend, Cat Fleming, Strang faces an existential threat not only to his career but to his very life.

At this dead hour of the morning, the lorry park is deserted. It is a bitterly cold night, with rain falling and an edge of snow, and under the sickly yellow lighting the great lorries and tarpaulined trailers are dark and bulky as huddled beasts. For the last six months, Callan has been spending nights looting the lorries for their precious cargos - and it's all been going well. But this fateful evening something will change, and Callan will find himself at the heart of a murder, and DCI Kelso Strang finds himself at the heart of the investigation.