Firstly, thank you to the publisher who sent me this book after following me on twitter & felt I was sure to enjoy it! Let me tell you she was correct! I enjoyed it so much, I am now going to have to add the three previous books to my very large to be read pile! I had never heard of this author before I received the book, so it is fair to say I had no expectations of the book, I imagined it would probably be average.... I was wrong! As a big fan of Edinburgh I loved the cover to start with so quickly moved it up the priority reading pile... As with many great crime reads there are more than one crime running through the book, great characters & good pace! I do however, think this author must be a Scottish secret.... so for anyone south of the border who hasn't heard about him... his books are definitely worth checking out! Thank you, now go read it!

The main character in the book, Robbie Munro, is a criminal lawyer just like the author and McIntyre’s background knowledge really shines through in the writing and makes the book feel very authentic (although I’m not sure most real lawyers would go as far as he done in the pursuit of the truth). I really enjoyed the legal spin on the traditional crime thriller, it gave an interesting and unusual perspective that was refreshing. The characters in this book are entertaining and, on the most part, very likeable and I was drawn through the book very easily, my interest held from page to page. Robbie’s personal life features quite heavily, particularly as his father is the subject of one of the two story lines, and I really enjoyed this aspect, particularly the appearances of his daughter, who is a feisty six-year-old with a lot of opinions she is not afraid to express. It gave the book a lightness amongst the tension which was very enjoyable. As indicated above, there are two plots running along side by side. One is the re-opening of an old case involving Robbie’s father which he gets involved in in the hopes of keeping his father from jail. The other is a recent death that he is invited to investigate by his ex-fiance. The dual story lines were both well-plotted and intriguing and kept the book interesting and moving forward. There were plenty of twists and turns to propel the book forwards and I did not see most of them coming, the writing is very clever. I really enjoyed the whole tone of the book, it was very easy to get engrossed in. The book is set in Linlithgow, not a place I know well, and I really loved the flavour of Scotland infused throughout. Tartan Noir is a big trend at the moment and this book is a welcome addition to the genre. I would highly recommend this book and I will definitely be going back to read the previous books in the series.