"This deftly written procedural realistically captures the life of modern Glasgow and the men who keep law and order there. A young cop on the beat finds a body laid out, with the head hacked off and neatly left on the chest of the torso. No clues to the victim's identity are available, but several peculiar aspects of the crime cause the detectives of Glasgow's P Division to conclude that some sort of ritual murder has occurred. For one thing, the...

In later years, Ray Sussock would look upon the case as being perhaps the most satisfying of his career. He began with the case and he was there at the conclusion twenty-five years later. It would, though, be many months, if not years, before the sense of satisfaction, the sense of neatly rounding off, would settle in. At the time he found it harrowing, especially when the realization came. When the realization came he had woken up. Screaming. So...