Fire in the Blood(2013)

Ed James

Book 3 in a series of Edinburgh-based police procedurals starring DC Scott Cullen which have been compared favourably with Ian Rankin, Mark Billingham, Christopher Brookmyre, Ed McBain, Elmore Leonard and Stuart MacBride.

Dunpender Distillery in East Lothian is steeped in the traditions of whisky-making. Approaching the distillery's centenary, a special edition is being readied for blending when something unexpected is found - one of the two barrels contains a male human body, battered and unrecognisable.

Detective Constable Scott Cullen, caught up in the maelstrom of managerial positioning surrounding the impending merger of Lothian & Borders into the Scottish Police Service, is sent out east again. Cullen is soon delving into the ancient history of the Crombie family, owners of the distillery, and investigating the disappearances of the owner's son, Iain Crombie, and an employee, Paddy Kavanagh, who both went missing around the time the whisky was distilled. Cullen is soon contending with the skeletons in the closets at the Distillery, DI Bain's desire for a quick collar and too many suspects with plausible motives, and finds himself hunting for a killer with fire in the blood.