Rebus doesn't quite feel like himself these days. His friend and colleague Jack Morton has died; his daughter is in a wheelchair since she was hit by a car that was meant for him; he's drinking again and doesn't feel good about it. Having gone through so much, he is unsure how to keep going.
The last thing he needs right now is, a test of his abilities as a detective, but that's exactly what he gets. Rebus is assigned to look after the convicted murderer Cary Oakes, who's just been deported back to Edinburgh from the U.S. Oakes is a cruel and conniving man, and he begins to play with Rebus' life. On top of that Rebus has a personal crusade against a pedophile assigned to live near a playground, a cop's suicide that may have far-reaching implications, and a high-school sweetheart whose teenage son is missing. Rebus is stuck.