Edinburgh, 1690. Jacob Kerr, a wealthy city merchant and church elder, has been found stabbed to death in hos own home. Is it a routine robbery gone wrong, as the evidence suggests? John MacKenzie is dragged fromhappy retirement by the irresistible pull of a murder that is not as simple as it seems. With King William and James Stewart about to do battle in Ireland, the Scottish people are in a frenzy of doubt and paranoia. The family who reside behind the mysterious walls of Van Diemen's Land are no exception. Can MacKenzie and Scougall cut through the fog of fear to reach the truth of the matter?