Rebus has been sent to purdah for retraining after blowing up at his boss. In other words, it’s his Last Chance Saloon … He is not alone. At the college, he is put into a group of similar officers—people who have a problem with the very institution which houses them. They are given an old unsolved case to work on. It will hopefully teach them the merits of teamwork, while allowing professionals the chance to assess them. But there are those in the team who have their own secrets—secrets not unconnected to the very case they’ve been given—and they’ll stop at nothing to protect them. As if that wasn’t enough, the Scottish Crime Squad have a favour to ask of Rebus. They think they’ve found someone who can deliver the inside info on the east coast’s biggest gangster, Big Ger Cafferty. All they need is a link-man, someone to act as go-between and they’ve decided on Rebus …
