A chance meeting with a face from the past in a West London pub convinces DI John Chambers to head north to Scotland to play golf at the hallowed Old Course in St Andrews - and the offer to leave London couldn't come at a better time. Recently suspended from the Met police pending an inquiry into his unauthorised role in the case of The Water Dragon in Hong Kong, Chambers' career is hanging in the balance. But before he can get his clubs out of the bag he just has the seemingly routine task of locating a distant relative who has disappeared after a night out in Glasgow. However, Chambers' trip north of the border soon turns sinister as his search takes him to the normally peaceful villages of coastal Fife. When the discovery of several naked, disfigured bodies are linked directly to Chambers, he quickly turns from hunter to hunted. On the run and trying to save his career, Chambers needs to find his relative and try to catch a serial killer. His investigations uncover a secret history of smuggling, disturbing ancient witch executions and a hedonistic royal drinking club; but what, if anything, do they have to do with the sudden spate of mutilated corpses? And what is the reason for his travelling companion's increasingly erratic behaviour?