Another one of my cheap books picked up from the Works and yet another winner. I suspect that all of these books have been around for some time, that was certainly true of the last and I get that impression about this one due to part of the story line. That doesn't take away from the books, just means that some things are a little different to what you would expect, like still smoking in pubs. This also has its benefits which I will explain later.

The focus of the story is around Fin Macleod a detective in the Edinburgh police force. Currently suffering the break down of his marriage due to the recent death of his son he is called to attend a murder on the Isle of Lewis, the place that he was born and grew up, due to the similarities in a murder he is investigating in the city and one that has taken place on the isle.

It is at this point that the story starts the move away from the traditional murder/crime mystery. Not what I was expecting, not what I really wanted but, by the end not something that affected this very good read.

The story is a little disruptive, switching between the here and now and parts of his previous life and the things that happened. It soon becomes clear that there is so much intertwined with his past and what could have happened this time. There is a strong focus on the Guga cull, an island tradition that still happens today, and the time that Fin was out there in his youth.

While the ending is a bit predictable it was very obviously left open for further books, Fin being the main character but, with the quality of writing it could easily have been his assisting officer on the island, Gunn, who could have his own books. As I said earlier, there are good bits to finding books later as a quick search revels that this is the first in a trilogy of books.

While not what I was expecting, the writing was very good, atmospheric, good enough to almost make me feel as if I was there on the island, as if I was there through the different points in his life. It certainly kept me entertained, not quite to the point of not putting it down but as close as it could possibly come.

Scoring is a little difficult, story and keeoing me entertained is certainly a good strong 4 but as it was a little more of a coming of age book, not what I was expecting from the description I will have to give it a 3, just because the marketing blurb was a little misleading.