It is a bitterly cold night, with rain falling and an edge of snow. Under the sickly yellow lighting in the lorry park, three men are looting precious cargo from the tarpaulined trailers – but the crack of a gunshot pierces the night, and everything changes. Six months on and a key witness at the subsequent murder trial finds herself under police protection in the remote ancient highlands around Loch Torridon. She is determined to find out what happened to her beloved Callan, one of the three looters, but everything becomes more complicated by another local murder, and the arrival of DCI Kelso Strang. The local dramatic peaks form the uncompromising backdrop of the police investigation, and Strang must contend with seismic events that will change many lives to get to the truth.