Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

It's no ordinary summer for DCC Bob Skinner, as murder mystery leaps from the page into reality in the new book in Quintin Jardine's outstanding police series.

August in Edinburgh: As Skinner stands on the edge of a career-defining moment and his fianc#65533;e, Scotland's First Minister Aileen de Marco faces a political crisis, a famous figure from another field is found dead. As the mystery deepens, Skinner finds himself crossing swords with an old enemy from the past, while his investigating detectives are faced with the unwelcome complication of a duke's junkie daughter. Meanwhile a second Scottish celebrity dies violently in Australia. It seems impossible, but could the two be connected? As DCS Mario McGuire heads to Melbourne to investigate, back in Scotland his boss's big moment is compromised in the most dramatic and unexpected manner, as a famous friendship is shattered for ever.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

At the outset of Jardine's 19th Bob Skinner mystery, one of the stronger entries in this hard-hitting police series (Aftershock, etc.), Skinner is about to be appointed chief constable, a promotion that will coincide with his wedding to Scotland's leader, First Minister Aileen de Marco. When a leading mystery author, Ainsley Glover, turns up dead at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, the cause is initially believed to be an accidental, or self-inflicted, overdose of glucose. The case becomes one of murder after the medical examiner discovers Glover was injected with a paralyzing drug and it rapidly becomes politically sensitive after the police learn Skinner's former boss, ex-politician Bruce Anderson, not only argued with the victim shortly before Glover's demise but lied about his whereabouts at the critical time. Keeping track of all the supporting characters and their personal relationships isn't always easy, but Jardine more than makes up for that with a nice surprise ending. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Kirkus Book Review

Someone is killing the bestselling crime-fiction writers in Scotland. Incident-free for a change, the current edition of the Edinburgh International Book Festival has been chugging along manageably until murder most foul and most devilishly complicated derails it. It all begins when whodunit notable Ainsley Glover is found lifeless in the authors' tent. Not only is Glover dead, but the garish murder method has been lifted directly from Black Sugar, the victim's own novel. His demise is followed by an equally headline-grabbing murder when a second bestselling author is urged untimely into the big sleep. What's going on here? Have Scotland's mystery writers suddenly become an endangered species? And who is it that harbors so homicidal a hatred for them? These are questions Deputy Chief Constable Bob Skinner (After Shock, 2008, etc.) and his band of skilled, randy investigators must answer in order to still the ear-splitting journalistic clamor. As usual, however, law enforcement isn't all the flamboyant DCC has on his plate. He's about to be married to Aileen de Marco, Scotland's First Minister. He's about to become Chief Constable, Scotland's top cop. And, because every silver lining must have its cloud, he's about to risk losing an ancient friendship. At 400-plus pages, Skinner's 19th drags more than a little, but admirers of this bestselling Scottish crime-fiction writer probably won't mind. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.