Martin McGregor is now in his early forties.  He has a lovely and loving partner, and is very well off - not bad for someone who left school with nothing but a passion for programming computers.  When his holiday in Portugal is interrupted by an enigmatic young blonde woman, Charlene, Martin's lifestyle and safety are put an risk.  

 

The novel follows the repercussions from Portugal, until Martin finds himself wanted by the Portuguese police, the Scottish police, the Romanian police, and Romanian and Scottish gangsters. Not to mention the FBI, who think he's a major threat.

 

The book shows how Martin ended up in this situation, and poses the question: can he escape a complete downfall? And does he really deserve to?

DS Amanda Pitt is on a Major Investigation Team trying to find the identity of a dead body found by the Forth and Clyde Canal in Maryhill.

 

Meanwhile, Martin McGregor stumbles across a credit card skimming operation in one of his clients' businesses. He decides to find out more.

 

Amanda and Martin find that their investigations are linked, and form an uneasy partnership.

 

So can they uncover the secrets behind the murder and the credit-card skimming while protecting their own secrets? And what has that bevy of glamorous young women in Rutherglen got to do with anything?

Rima Khalaf died when she fell from the Rock in Clachdubh - a death ruled accidental. Her parents can't accept that, so DS Amanda Pitt is sent to carry out at re-examination of the evidence.

 

Her report concludes that the original investigation was right, but there were gaps. Amanda probes at those gaps - she can't let it go. She finds there was a previous death on the Rock - again ruled accidental. But the same people were around. When there is a murder in Clachdubh, Amanda becomes obsessed with finding the truth.

 

And she finds other people with their own obsessions...

Glasgow PI Grant Cairns is tasked by an investigative journalist to look into the affairs of a company called Caledonia Data – CalDat. They are suspected of funnelling money to far-right groups and of harvesting data to promotefake news. 

Meanwhile ex-DS Amanda Pitt hears of a murder at a Glasgow hotel. The killer died at the scene, but there are loose ends. Why did he check in to the hotel when he lived only a few miles away and was very poor? And how could he possibly have known the victim?

She asks Cairns for help, and they find their cases are linked. And they connect to an MSP, Julia Ross, whose life may be in danger.