Edinburgh January 1746 the streets of Edinburgh are no longer safe to walk as a maniac stalks young women and the homeless. His victims come from all levels of society but the city council want things hushed up through fear that they may lose their own privileged positions it is down to Robert Young and his wife Euphemia to ensure that justice is delivered. Meanwhile for Sergeant MacIan ghosts from his past return as flesh and blood and he is forced to face a decision made in haste now means life will never be the same again. from the filth and squalor of the the city's back lanes to the splendour of a country house in the Pentland Hills, they face a race against time to unmask a killer before the music dies on the last dance