Publisher's Synopsis
Lovatt Island belongs to a group of uninhabited islands near the isolated village of Innellan in south-west Scotland. The skeleton found in one of its sea-caves, shackled to the rock, looks like the relic of some long-ago conflict between rival smuggling gangs, but the modern watch clasped around its bony wrist gives the lie to that. It presents a challenging, even an urgent case for DI Marjory Fleming. But in the community of Innellan, there's an atmosphere of fear and tension, and seemingly unconnected incidents start to happen: unpleasant vandalism; a house set on fire. The rank smell of hatred is in the air and Fleming, desperate to prevent more violence, senses a pattern she cannot see, a deadly design that gets uglier.
