First published 2013
Sergeant Hamish Macbeth wants nothing to do with the arrogant woman who approaches him with a strange complaint. She cannot recall what happened to her the night before after drinking heavily. Macbeth finds her irritating and hopes to avoid dealing with her altogether. His wish comes true in the worst possible way when someone discovers her corpse. Now Macbeth must solve a murder where the sole witness took her memories to the grave. The investigation forces him to piece together a puzzle with missing pieces. He faces the challenge of reconstructing events that only the victim could have explained. The case tests his detective skills as he works without the testimony that might have made everything clear. Macbeth discovers that sometimes the most difficult crimes are those where the key to understanding died with the victim.
Genres: mystery, crime, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-detective, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Scotland
Period: 20th-century
272 pages · Hardcover · Grand Central Publishing