When respected parish parson Jonathan McLean is found dead on deserted Holy Island, it looks as if its natural causes. But one detail doesn't fit, and Lord Alexander Chisholm of Banagard Castle asks Ben Reese, American archivist and ex-intellingence expert, to investigate. Following a trail of clues that winds its way through the old family estates and rustic farms of the Scottish countryside, Ben uncovers the motives of a growing list of suspects--the dishonest dealmaker, the rejected secretary, the church board member who opposed Jon, the aristocrat who covets what he doesn't have, the mental patient who's obsessed with revenge. Before Ben can prove what he suspects, the murderer strikes again with chilling disdain.