Whirligig

About this book

Longlisted for the 2020 CWA JOHN CREASEY NEW BLOOD DAGGER AWARD Shortlisted for the BLOODY SCOTLAND MCILVANNEY PRIZE 2020An ambitious innovative concept and the most intricate modus operandi for killing the victims of any book this year a real page turner: Judges quote McIlvanney PrizeJust outside a sleepy Highland town a gamekeeper is found hanging lifeless from a tree. The local police investigate an apparent suicide only to find hes been snared as efficiently as the rabbit suspended beside him. As the body count rises the desperate hunt is on to find the murderer before any more people die.But the town doesnt give up its secrets easily and who makes the intricate clockwork mechanisms carved from bone and wood found at each crime Whirligig is a tartan noir like no other; an expose of the corruption pervading a small Highland community and the damage this inflicts on societys most vulnerable. What happens when those placed in positions of trust look the other way; when those charged with our protection are inadequate to the challenge; when the only justice is that served by those who have been sinned against This debut crime novel introduces DI James Corstophine - a man still grieving for a wife lost to cancer; his small close-knit team of passed-over police and their quiet Highland town. Hes up against a killer who plays him as easily as a child. For a man who has been treading water since the death of his wife hes facing a metaphorical flood of biblical proportions as he struggles to understand why these murders are happening and who is behind each carefully planned execution. All the time the clock is ticking.