The fourth gripping, evocative, and lyrical mystery in the acclaimed series that brilliantly evokes the Scottish Highlands of the 1950s. A. D. Scott's extraordinary mystery novels have been called "beautifully written and atmospheric" (Rhys Bowen, New York Timesbestselling author of Hush Now, Don't You Cry), "a visit with an old friend in front of a fireplace on a cold wintry night" ( Suspense Magazine), and "must-reads" ( Booklist). In her latest, Scott pits the staff of the Highland Gazetteagainst their greatest adversary yet in a mystery that her fans will relish. In the Highlands of Scotland, where "shinty," the progenitor of hockey, is a beloved pastime, the wife of a local coach makes a gruesome discovery: a severed leg in the boot of one of the player's uniforms. It's a big scoop for the Highland Gazette, but one of the paper's budding reporters, Joanne Ross, is determined to find a front page story of her own to get her out of doing "women's interest" storiesa story she hopes to find in Mae Bell, an American jazz singer whose husband disappeared in an aircraft accident over the North Sea five years previously and who is searching the Highlands for her late husband's colleagues. Things take a very sinister turn when Nurse Urquhart, who discovered the severed limb, suffers a hideous and brutal attack. Even stranger, she was the recipient of letters warning her to keep her nose out of someone's businessletters that Mae Bell and the staff of the Highland Gazettealso received. What could it all mean? Unfolding against a gorgeously rendered Scottish countryside, North Sea Requiemcaptures the mores and issues of another era, especially in Joanne Rossa woman wrestling with divorce, career, and a boss who wants to be more than just her superior. The result is a poignant, often haunting mix of violence, loss, and redemption in a narrative full of unnerving plot twists and unforgettable characters.