First published 2011
Police Constable Hamish Macbeth discovers blood dripping onto a villager's fireplace floor in the remote Scottish highlands. Inside the chimney lies a corpse. The entire town of Lochdubh points fingers at Pete Ray, the traveling chimney sweep who services these isolated northern villages with his traditional brushes. While southern Scotland has moved to vacuum cleaning, these remote communities still depend on Pete's old methods. Hamish refuses to believe the friendly sweep committed murder. His doubts prove justified when Pete's own body turns up on the Scottish moors. Now Hamish faces a deeper puzzle with two victims instead of one suspect. The real killer walks among the villagers, possibly someone Hamish knows well. He must uncover the truth before the murderer strikes again in this Highland community where everyone relies on each other to survive the harsh northern winters.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-detective, small-town-secrets
Setting: Scottish Highlands, Lochdubh
Period: 20th-century
247 pages · Hardcover · Hachette: Grand Central Publishing