"In the heat of a blistering summer, Aberdeen's police are struggling: half the force is off sick, all leave has been cancelled, someone's firebombed a hotel full of migrants...With officers dropping like flies, Detective Inspector Logan McRae is forced to juggle cases and run a major murder investigation with a skeleton staff of misfits, idiots and malingerers until the top brass can arrange back-up from other divisions. It doesn't help that the Aberdeen Examiner has just been bought by Natasha Agapova,a tabloid media tycoon, hell-bent on blaming local police for everything. And she's more than happy to fan the flames"-- Provided by publisher.