[3] The novel opens and closes with Rebus and his girlfriend, Deborah Quant (a forensic pathologist) dining in a restaurant which is part of the Waldorf Caledonian Hotel.

Rebus is reminded of the 1978 murder at this hotel of Maria Turquand, an unsolved case in which Edinburgh bankers and pop stars were suspects.

Because HM Revenue and Customs are interested in a shell companies scheme involving Christie and banking scion Anthony Brough, Fox is sent back to Edinburgh to join Clarke's investigation.

Rebus manages to follow both enquiries, and Fox sees to it that Siobhan Clarke comes to the attention of the Gartcosh MIT group, and so the three are again working together.

[6] Against this backdrop is Rebus's diagnosis of COPD, and his wait for word about from the doctors about a shadow on his lung (which he has named Hank Marvin).