Delaney Nichols has settled so comfortably into her new life
in Edinburgh that she truly feels it’s become more home than
her once beloved Kansas. Her job at the Cracked Spine, a
bookshop that specializes in rare manuscripts as well as
other sundry valuable historical objects, is everything she
had dreamed, with her new boss, Edwin MacAlister, entrusting
her more and more with bigger jobs. Her latest task includes
a trip to Castle Doune, a castle not far out of Edinburgh,
to retrieve a hard-to-find edition of an old Scottish comic,
an “Oor Wullie,” in a cloak and dagger transaction that
Edwin has orchestrated.
While taking in the sights of the distant Highlands from the
castle’s ramparts, Delaney is startled when she spots a
sandal-clad foot at the other end of the roof.
Unfortunately, the foot’s owner is very much dead and, based
on the William Wallace costume he’s wearing, perfectly
matches the description of the man who was supposed to bring
the Oor Wullie. As Delaney rushes to call off some
approaching tourists and find the police, she comes across
the Oor Wullie, its pages torn and fluttering around a side
wall of the castle. Instinct tells her to take the pages and
hide them under her jacket. It’s not until she returns to
the Cracked Spine that she realizes just how complicated
this story is and endeavors to untangle the tricky plot of
why someone wanted this man dead, all before getting herself
booked for murder.