Part of Isabel Dalhousie, book 10
First published 2015
Isabel Dalhousie faces her strangest case yet when a mutual friend introduces her to a six-year-old boy claiming vivid memories from a past life. The child describes in perfect detail a Scottish island and the house where he believes he once lived. His mother asks Isabel to investigate this puzzling situation. Isabel travels to the island with her husband Jamie and son Charlie. They discover the exact house the boy described, raising unsettling questions that challenge Isabel's preference for rational explanations. Meanwhile, back in Edinburgh, two visiting academics named Lettuce and Dove threaten to disrupt her comfortable position at the Review of Applied Ethics. Isabel must navigate both the paranormal mystery and professional challenges while drawing on her skills as philosopher and amateur detective. Through it all, she finds joy in her family life with Jamie and Charlie, even as these unusual circumstances test her worldview.
Genres: mystery, contemporary, paranormal
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-detective, found-family
Setting: Edinburgh, Scottish Island
257 pages · Hardcover · Pantheon