Medics have a way of organising cases. The first one you see is: 'in my experience'. Two becomes 'case after case'. Three is a series. In medicine, as in crime, three is the magic number that makes a syndrome real - or that turns death from a frightening accident,an unfortunate end to a night of heavy drinking, or a ridiculous overdose into a series. And that means the killer, too, has a label. Three men are dead, three colleagues with a shared past, a past also shared by the one person Kellen Stewart would trust with her life: pathologist Lee Adams. Suspect number one in this fast, hard-edged thriller. Set in Scotland, the action takes us to the rocks of the west coast and back to the farm in the Campsie Fells that is the location for the first two Kellen Stewart novels.

The first to die was Eric. An irrepressible, seemingly indestructible pathologist he was climbing alone when he died.

Then Joey, the superstar surgeon, choked to death when drunk.

Finally Martin, a statistician, overdosed.

All apparently tragic accidents, but Kellen Stewart doesn't believe in coincidence. She knows the three colleagues had a shared past, a past also shared with pathologist Lee Adams, who just happens to be the one person she would trust with her life - and the number one suspect.

'Scott's writing is powerful and subtle, her characters...have depth, the plot is impeccable and original, and the shiver-count high...Stronger Than Death propels her into the front rank of British crime writers'
The Times

'Nail-biting stuff...Scott takes her readers up the cliff with her until they reach a ledge and then she gives them a nasty shock'
Scotland on Sunday

'Stronger Than Death is Patricia Cornwell rewritten by Sylvia Plath'
Scotsman

9780552169141
£6.99
www.mcscott.co.ukebook available