The novel is set during 2016 but because the main detective is in the Historic Case Unit (HCU) the crimes being investigated were actually committed in 1994 and 1996.

[1] At night she encounters displaced Syrian refugees in alleyways and under bridges gathered together to try to be a community, as since coming to Scotland, they have nowhere to meet up.

A supposed suicide of Gabriel, a Kinross man, also leads to Karen unofficially opening a cold case on a 1994 aircraft crash.

[3] Amongst all of this, Karen has to come to terms with Phil's death, worry about her young, naïve colleague who makes errors in judgment and procedure, whilst combatting the open dislike that her superior, Assistant Chief Constable Lees, has for her.

In The Press and Journal, Roddy Brooks noted the determination of the main character and said that McDermid was a writer at the height of her game.