FROM SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER COMES AN ELECTRIFYING CRIME THRILLER FOR FANS OF IAN RANKIN, PETER JAMES AND STUART MCBRIDE

A young girl's mutilated body is discovered in a sealed room.

Her remains are carefully arranged, in what seems to have been a cruel and macabre ritual.
And they've been undiscovered for 60 years . . .

For newly appointed Edinburgh Detective Inspector Tony McLean this baffling cold case ought to be a low priority - but he is haunted by the young victim and her grisly death.

Meanwhile, the city is terrorised by a series of bloody killings, with no rhyme nor reason.

The police are at a loss, but McLean is convinced these deaths are somehow connected to the terrible ceremonial killing of the girl, all those years ago.

It's an irrational, almost supernatural theory.

But one which will lead McLean closer to the heart of a terrifying and ancient evil . . .

Praise for James Oswald:

'Crime fiction's next big thing' The Sunday Telegraph

'Oswald is among the leaders in the new batch of excellent Scottish crime writers' Daily Mail

'The hallmarks of Val McDermid or Ian Rankin: it's dark, violent, noirish' The Herald

'An excellent start to what promises to be a fine series' Guardian

'The new Ian Rankin' Daily Record