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When Robert Mac Macdonell takes early retirement from the police force, the last thing he’d expected was to inherit an ancient family heirloom in the form of a sixteenth century broch (a Scottish tower), situated on the remote island of Fitheach (pronounced Fithick), situated off the west coast of Scotland. What he discovers there is a shock to his system that even several bottles of his favourite red wine fails to sooth.
First of all, he arrives at the exact moment that the body of Benjamin Long is being removed by the mainland police.
Secondly, he is confronted by the tempestuous Inspector Sophie Legrand (AKA Big Soph) who wants to employ Mac as a consultant to assist her enquiries on behalf of OLAF (The European Anti-Fraud Office), into the nefarious activities of the Long family.
And thirdly, he discovers that the family history on his mother’s side is drenched in rich and unsavoury legend. The broch appears to be haunted. Tales of witchcraft and missing boy-children linger on the island, and they are as difficult to ignore as the perpetual rain and fog.
His tumultuous relationship with Sophie will take them both into uncharted waters as they chip away at the mystery of who might have killed Benjamin Long, and also investigate a crime-web whose strands reach from London to Saudi Arabia.
Mac finds himself in several, almost impossible situations as he juggles his need to renovate the broch, manage the suspicions of the island’s highly dogmatic society, satisfy the constantly changing expectations of Sophie Legrand, and even keep himself from becoming the number-one suspect of an act of hideous wrong-doing.
His fantasy that saving an old ruin might somehow become a salvation for his own tortured soul, quickly turns into a reality in which darkness is likely to consume the people he cares for most. And if he’s not extremely careful, the very darkest of creatures is likely to show its most demonic self.