Moving to remote Shetland has been unsettling enough for consultant surgeon Tora Hamilton, even before the gruesome discovery she makes one rain-drenched afternoon . . .

The corpse I could cope with. It was the context that threw me . . .

Deep in the peat soil of her field she uncovers the body of a young woman. Her heart has been removed, and the marks etched into the woman's skin bear an eerie resemblance to carvings Tora has seen in her own cellar.

And there I'd been, thinking the day couldn't possibly get any worse.

But as Tora begins to ask questions, terrifying threats start rolling in like the cold island mists . . .