DI Alec McKay

Detective Inspector Alec McKay is drawn into a chilling hunt for a serial killer. But first he must face the demons of his own past… Still grieving the tragic loss of his daughter, McKay becomes obsessed with a seemingly cold missing persons case—until bodies start turning up across the Black Isle. Each victim is surrounded by roses and candles, leaving McKay and his team to untangle the disturbing ritual behind the murders. As they struggle to crack the killer’s cryptic pattern, McKay’s own life begins to unravel.

DI Alec McKay is back. Twenty years ago, Jackie Galloway was a senior cop with a bad reputation. Then he ended up on the wrong side of the wrong people, and his career was ruined. Sacked and with no pension, he ends up eking out his last days on Scotland's Black Isle, his mind lost to dementia, supported only by his wife, Bridie...until Galloway is found dead. The police assume the death to be accidental until Bridie reveals that her husband has been receiving threatening letters containing only the phrase 'not forgotten. Not forgiven.'

Jimmy McGuire, a washed-up comic, is found dead on the streets of Inverness, his body garroted. Back in the 1990s, McGuire had been half of a promising double act until his partner, Jack Dingwall, was convicted of rape. Soon, a second corpse is found in an abandoned industrial site on the edge of the Moray Firth. The body has been there for some days and has also been garroted. The victim turns out to be a former musician turned record producer who had also been the subject of rape allegations.

A family day out turns sour for DI McKay when he stumbles across an unidentified corpse. The day becomes darker still when his brother-in-law goes missing and is eventually found dead, the result of a seemingly accidental fall. Meanwhile, DCI Helena Grant has a disastrous on-line date with a pompous senior manager of a local hotel chain. Her initial amusement turns to unease at his disturbing behaviour. And, as she arrives home, she receives a threatening text from someone who has been watching her.

As the winter chill grips the Highlands, a body is discovered burned alive in a solstice bonfire, kicking off a harrowing Christmas season. When a retired businessman is found hanging from a tree and another associate is savagely murdered in his isolated home, the team is stretched to the limit. With DCI Helena Grant away for a romantic holiday with crime writer Bill Emsworth, McKay must navigate a series of baffling killings under mounting pressure—amidst staff shortages and the relentless Scottish winter.