This is Marion Todd's latest tense and exciting addition to her St Andrew's based DI Clare Mackay series. However, it takes a while to really get going, so I would urge readers to persist in a story with a number of threads that eventually begin to link together. It begins with Clare giving a talk to encourage local pupils at the Melville Academy to consider joining the police force, and it is here she has an odd conversation with Eilidh Campbell. A wife reports her solicitor husband, Harry Richards missing, only for him to be discovered in his car with his throat cut in Tentsmuir Forest. So begins one of Clare's most complex and dangerous investigations that will challenge her and her team, including DS Chris West who is planning his wedding and the ever reliable Sergeant Jim Douglas.
The bereaved wife had been being stalked recently, a matter the police delve into, the deeper they dig, the more it becomes clear that the dead victim is not necessarily the fine upstanding citizen that he at first appears to be. The inquiry is hampered by the need to tread carefully and not breach the confidentiality of clients in the conveyancing business, and with there being no available DCI, the pressure is all on Clare to find a killer or two. When Leona, the wife of paralegal Simon Miller, dies in a horrifying car accident, Clare is disinclined to believe in coincidences, it looks like the deceased solicitor's staff are being targeted. In this twisty narrative, the police try to bring to justice the most feared and powerful of murderers, crooks and villains, will they succeed?
I enjoy the blend of policing and focus on the personal lives of the characters, for example, Clare has to figure out whether she can trust her relationship with DCI Alastair Gibson, enough so that he can sell his home and move in permanently and whilst he is away for work, her ex-boyfriend Tom comes to stay. This is a great Scottish crime series where the intrigue, tension and suspense begins to build slowly but solidly, culminating in a thrilling finale. There is plenty of banter within the police team and I love Clare's dog, Benjy. I look forward to the next in the series! Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.