A dark and atmospheric crime thriller by James Oswald and the second novel in the Inspector Tony McLean series. Set in the shadowy streets of Edinburgh, it blends police procedural, psychological suspense, and subtle supernatural horror.

Twelve years ago, Detective Constable Tony McLean ended the reign of the infamous Christmas Killer, a serial murderer responsible for the ritualistic deaths of ten young women—including McLean's own fiancée, Kirsty Summers. The killer was imprisoned, and the nightmare seemed over.

Now, the Christmas Killer has been murdered in prison. Almost immediately, a young woman's body is discovered bearing the exact hallmarks of the original crimes: naked, washed clean, and with her throat slit. The similarities are too precise to ignore. Is someone copying the murders? Was the wrong man convicted? Or is there a far more sinister explanation?

As McLean revisits the most traumatic case of his career, he uncovers disturbing links between the new killings, an ancient occult book, suspicious arson attacks across Edinburgh, and long-buried secrets. The deeper he investigates, the more he is forced to confront the possibility that the case cannot be explained by conventional police work alone.