The murder of a controversial Scottish media mogul ignites "a high-octane political thriller doused in stinging satire" ( The Sunday Times).

Just when left-leaning journalist Jack Parlabane trades in his muckraking career for domestic quietude, the muck comes calling. Conservative tabloid tycoon Roland Voss, his wife, and their two ineffectual bodyguards have been found murdered at Voss's country estate. An arrest has been made, the media is pouncing, and Parlabane smells a fix.

So does public defender Nicole Carrow. The pigeon is her former client, a harmless Robin Hood burglar now accused of breaking parole most spectacularly. But this is no simple frame-up. It's a high-level conspiracy. Parlabane and Carrow are determined to do right-even as so many things are about to go wrong.

Jack Parlabane, the hero of Christopher Brookmyre's acclaimed series returns-along with the author's trademark "sassy, nasty fast style of...Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen" ( The Guardian).

"Brookmyre...twists his plotlines, throws out terrific one-liners, piles up corpses and contrives narrow escapes with the impeccable timing of a Swiss watchmaker. If there's a code for fulfilling the requirements of a witty crime caper, surely he's cracked it." - The New York Times

"A biting, violent, fiendishly funny story...for all lovers of hip, intelligent, action-packed crime thrillers." - Booklist