You don't have to win, just don't lose.

High stakes and low politics combine with deadly effect in the new thriller, Bastard Verdict, by James McCrone.

A second referendum on independence looms, and a Scottish official enlists elections specialist Imogen Trager, a by-the-numbers, if rarely by-the-book investigator, to look into irregularities in the 2014 Scottish Independence referendum. Imogen uncovers a trail of criminal self-dealing, cover-ups, and murder leading to the highest levels of power. None but a very few know the truth. And those few need it to stay hidden at any cost.

Imogen will risk what's left of her standing, her career--and maybe her life--to get at the truth.