The novel was published on 5 April 2012 by Little, Brown and Company and follows a man returning to a small seaport town after being forced to flee five years earlier.

[1] Stewart Gilmour returns to Stonemouth, a fictional seaport town north of Aberdeen, for a funeral.

Stonemouth is controlled by two rival gangs, the Murstons and the MacAvetts, and Gilmour was engaged to a member of the former clan before he had to leave.

[3][4] Some criticisms of the book included some of the references to modern technology being "unauthentic",[5] while praise for the novel centred on the plot's mystery.

[7] An adaptation for BBC Television was announced in 2014, starring Christian Cooke as Stewart Gilmour, with Peter Mullan, Sharon Small and Gary Lewis.