When the Chief Superintendent in Edinburgh's police headquarters starts to receive sinister notes claiming responsibility for a number of increasingly dark acts, he is forced to act. With disturbing glances into a warped mind, he has few options within his own men to investigate. Enter Luke Calvin, private investigator. His casual methods and awkward personality still tend to produce results and he is brought on board to lend his assistance. It is a race against time to discover the culprit as the casualty list grows and everyone involved is becoming fair game for the unknown writer who appears to have lost his grip on reality. Through the alleys and backstreets of Edinburgh's Old Town and far into the outlying schemes, the chase is on to track down the suspect and unravel his disturbing Manifesto before he finds them first.