Why You'll Love This
A dead crime lord returning to settle scores five years after his own assassination is the kind of premise that makes you flip pages without realizing it.
- Great if you want: atmospheric Scottish crime fiction with real procedural grit
- The experience: tightly wound and moody — tension builds steadily toward a dark payoff
- The writing: Meyrick balances dry Scottish humor with genuinely menacing atmosphere
- Skip if: you haven't read book one — character loyalty matters here
About This Book
When a man you watched die starts killing again, the question isn't just who's responsible — it's how afraid you should be. DCI Jim Daley is already stretched thin policing the tight-knit community of Kinloch when a ghost from Glasgow's criminal underworld appears to have returned, methodical and merciless, settling old scores. With someone close to him squarely in the crosshairs, Daley isn't just working a case — he's in a race that feels deeply, uncomfortably personal.
Meyrick's particular gift is atmosphere rendered without effort — the west coast of Scotland feels genuinely lived-in, its small-town rhythms and dark undercurrents woven together so naturally that place becomes character. The pacing is confident and unhurried, trusting readers to settle into Kinloch before tightening the tension with quiet precision. What sets this second Daley novel apart is how fully it rewards investment in these people: the relationships carry real weight, the moral ambiguity lingers, and the prose has a dry, grounded warmth that keeps even the darkest material from tipping into grimness.