The third compulsive and gripping novel in the DI Lukas Mahler series from the winner of the Good Housekeeping Novel Writing competition 2016...

The bloated remains of a man are discovered bound to a derelict pier in Orkney and newly promoted DCI Lukas Mahler dispatches a team to investigate. But when the body is identified as Alex Fleming - Mahler's former colleague from his time in the Met - the case becomes personal.

Mahler's investigation takes him from his old stamping ground of London to the world of organised crime, and from sixteenth-century witch executions to Fleming's most notorious unsolved case: the 'Witchfinder' murders. Are the runic symbols found with Fleming's body proof the killer's struck again - or is there an even darker story to be uncovered?

With pressure mounting from all sides and demons from his own past surfacing, Mahler is faced with the most complex moral decision of his career.

Lukas Mahler's third outing is an intriguing tale set on Orkney where the past and present collide, testing acting DCI Mahler to his limits both professionally and personally. Orkney is as much a star as Mahler, who becomes more compelling with every outing. Highly recommended.