Orkney is one of the book’s big characters

The Orkney island of Sanday in the middle of winter becomes a character in its own right in Lin Anderson’s novel in the Rhona MacLeod series.

As if the discovery of human remains in the grounds of a former primary school and thirteen flowers representing the souls of dead children in the attic of the nearby school house isn’t enough, the Glasgow-based forensic expert and her team including the dogged DS MacNab have the additional challenge of weather as inhospitable as some of the island’s inhabitants.

Without a police station and with an intermittent internet connection and no access to the usual tools for solving crime such as CCTV, the investigating team have to use their knowledge and gut instincts to piece together crimes that see the past and the present collide in a way that
threatens to rip apart this small island community, which is overly keen to keep its secrets.

Anderson superbly ratchets up the tension as the team race to rescue a missing girl before the approaching storm hits the island.

Prepare to lose sleep.

[review rating=”4″ align = “left”]