The eleventh book in the Sunday Times-bestselling Inspector McLean series, from one of Scotland's most celebrated crime writers.

The charred remains of an elderly woman are discovered in a burned-out game-keepers cottage, hidden away in woodland to the west of Edinburgh. Clearly no accidental fire, Detective Inspector Tony McLean suspects that neither is this simply a grim arson attack. There is far more to the victim than her humble surroundings might suggest, and something ritualistic to her horrific murder.

Nor will it be the only case of death by fire that Tony and his team will be faced with. This is only the beginning, and with such evil clouding the air, Tony begins to wonder what else will burn . . .

Praise for James Oswald:

'The new Ian Rankin' Daily Record

'Creepy, gritty and gruesome' Sunday Mirror

'Crime fiction's next big thing' Sunday Telegraph