Compelling stuff * Oxford Times * Deplorably readable * Guardian * More twists and turns than TV's Taggart at its best * Stirling Observer * Gritty cop drama that makes Taggart look tame * Northern Echo * A complex and suspenseful saga that never flags from start to finish * Bolton Evening News * If you're looking for a detective whose personal life is as active, contradictory and complicated as his job then follow the Edinburgh exploits of Deputy Chief Constable Bob Skinner in Quintin Jardine's Skinner series * Radio Times * Remarkably assured, raw-boned, a tour de force * New York Times * Well constructed, fast-paced, Jardine's narrative has many an ingenious twist and turn * Observer * Very engaging as well as ingenious, and the unraveling of the mystery is excellently done -- Allan Massie * Scotsman * Praise for Quintin Jardine's previous novels: 'If Ian Rankin is the Robert Carlyle of Scottish crime writers, then Jardine is surely its Sean Connery' * Glasgow Herald * Another cracker from Jardine... Plenty of twists and turns along the way to keep you engrossed * Scots Magazine * A Scottish Alex Cross .... Brilliantly written to leave you guessing right up to the end * @Ilovereadinguk * I love the Bob Skinner novels. Quintin Jardine's slick and suspenseful Edinburgh-set series has never failed to keep me riveted... Starts with a bang and doesn't let up till the last sentence * Globe and Mail *

Quintin Jardine was born once upon a time in the West - of Scotland rather than America, but still he grew to manhood as a massive Sergio Leone fan. On the way there he was educated, against his will, in Glasgow, where he ditched a token attempt to study law for more interesting careers in journalism, government propaganda, and political spin-doctoring. After a close call with the Brighton Bomb in 1984, he moved into the even riskier world of media relations consultancy, before realising that all along he had been training to become a crime writer. Now, forty novels later, he never looks back.Along the way he has created/acquired an extended family in Scotland and Spain. Everything he does is for them.He can be tracked down through his blog: http://quintinjardine.me