A man from Kosovo is killed in a seedy Edinburgh slum. Considered by some to be a hate crime, due largely to the racist slur painted on the victim's head -- Rebus is unconvinced. Clues lead to the dirty underworld of gangland bosses, and their control over the local underprivileged. Fingerprints, blood stains, odd looks, dramatic music cues -- even unused tickets to a soccer match -- all lead Rebus to another corpse. Rebus sees the killer's motivation not as racist, but rather of sibling rivalry, hidden passion, or something much more devious... Or maybe not.
—Ted Strong