I'm so sad that Manda Scott has apparently given up writing mysteries in favor of a lengthy series of historical novels about Boudicca. I very much enjoyed her veterinary series, and finally got around to this stand-alone which was, if anything, even better.

Orla MacLeod and Luke, one of her colleagues in a four-person special police unit, are undercover in the Glasgow slums on the track of a drug lord. I don't want to spoil any of the suspense, but Orla does end up with custody of a small boy who has seen far too much and may be in danger. She takes him to the Highlands, where her widowed mother lives. Both Orla and her mother were disfigured, and Orla's father and brother killed, in Northern Ireland years ago. The reader begins to suspect that a man whose trial precipitated the killing is now out of prison and possibly looking for Orla and her mother. This is one of those books where you begin to suspect just about everybody -- there's even some possibility of police corruption -- and those are not usually my favorite, but this one is so well done that it brought me into the same mindset for a while. The Highland and Glasgow settings are evocative and the protagonists very quickly grow to be people you care about a lot. Highly recommended, and please, Ms. Scott, come back to writing mysteries! ( )

Excellent book - didn't want to put it down. Manda writes suspense and edge of your seat fear very well ( )

This British thriller takes place in and around Glasgow ,Scotland. It is recommnended on the back cover by J. Wallis Martin , Denise Mina , and Laurie King and Amazon UK stated that it was one of the most remarkable thrillers of the year (2001).
The author , Manda Scott lives and works in Scotland and writes thrillers and historical fiction. This is her first non-series book. My copy has been signed by Ms. Scott which makes it special though it is a trade paperback.
DI Orla McLeod was part of a Special Branch undercover operation attempting to nail one of the most feared criminals in Europe, Tord Svenson. The operation goes badly wrong and Orla and a nine year old boy are the sole survivors of a shoot out in a sleazy Glasgow tenement. The child, Jamie, is an important witness , he alone having seen Svenson and witnessed the savage torture and murder of another undercover police officer.
Orla must keep him safe and she and her undercover team attempt to recover their mission but Svenson seems to know their plans ahead of time.
This is a compulsive and exciting read, highly recommended. ( )