In September 1919, bones discovered on a Scottish mountainside are believed to belong to a missing woman, and a young mother is accused of killing her. The suspect is Fiona MacDonald, formerly engaged to Hamish MacLeod, whose voice still haunts Rutledge. Investigating the case forces him into the community that shaped Hamish and into a history he has tried to keep separate from his police work.
The mystery turns Rutledge’s private guilt into an immediate professional danger. Scottish local loyalties, wartime absence and uncertain identification make the evidence fragile, while any disclosure of his connection to Hamish could destroy his credibility. Solving the murder requires him to confront the humanity of the man he remembers chiefly through the moment of execution.