When Detective Inspector Gemma James is persuaded by her friend, Hazel, to take a trip to the Scottish Highlands, land of mists and fine whiskey, she jumps at the chance. But Gemma soon learns that Hazel has ulterior motives, and that her friend has concealed more than one dangerous secret.

At their remote B&B near the River Spey, Hazel encounters her former lover, Donald Brodie, now the owner of a well known local distillery. Their relationship had ended abruptly years before, when they had been driven apart by their parents. Now he is determined to win her back.

But the lovers' reunion yields shocking - and mortal - consequences. Gemma soon discovers that, in this tight-knit community, there is no shortage of suspects and that, beneath the hospitable surface, there lurks a hundred years of bitter family rivalry waiting to emerge.

Suddenly all too aware of the distance between her and Kincaid, Gemma must come to terms with what she has learned about the friend she thought she knew. And, with or without Duncan's help, she must use all her skills to uncover the truth behind the tragedy, before Hazel herself is convicted of murder . . .