I don't remember Peter May previously setting any of his novels in the future, but correct me if I am wrong. It’s 2051 and despite climate activists clear warnings, vast quantities of the planet are now under water with some countries having entirely disappeared resulting in refugees seeking homes wherever there is land. A dead body encased in ice, multiple murders, and political corruption combine with addiction and a family drama that is irresistible - a one sitting read for me! In 2003 I read Firemaker, the first thriller by Peter May, and although the details are a bit fuzzy, I still remember how impressed I was with this book. Brodie must face up to the ghosts of his past and to a killer determined to bury forever the chilling secret that his investigation threatens to expose.

While initially these threads may have felt a bit disparate, they came to flow well together for me, filling in aspects of the story as and when needed for the sake of all the characters involved. Because of this a quarter of the world’s population has been moved due to hunger and flooding, forcing refuges no other option but to escape into other countries. I was recommended the books that comprise Peter May’s Lewis Trilogy by a friend who is for the most part a non-reader.Someone is trying to conceal some extremely crucial information in this Highland village, something that cost George Younger his life.

All of it occurring some years into our self-determined future (The author’s anticipation of the abuses made possible through AI, is both prescient and terrifying). I wasn't keen when I started this book which is set partly in the present time and partly in 2050, a very different world where the UK is partially submerged in water and suffering from extreme weather conditions.

Brodie seeks to find his estranged daughter and make things right while solving a dissapeance in the northern climes of Scotland. This was a compelling police procedural containing a worrisome warning about climate change and a devastating future that could be approaching.