Rose McQuinn

When out walking on Arthur's Seat, high above the city of Edinburgh, Rose McQuinn discovers the body of a woman in the ruins of St Anthony's Chapel. But she is astonished that on returning to the scene, there is no evidence of either the victim or the local constable who had taken down Rose's story. Even Rose's would-be lover, Detective Sergeant Jack Macmerry, is doubtful. Edinburgh City Police have no record of a dead woman or of PC Smith.

Rose McQuinn makes a long anticipated journey to her childhood home on Orkney, but does not find the peace and relaxation she anticipates. An archaeological team stumbles across a body, causing great excitement: could it be the preserved corpse of a 13th-century princess? When the body is identified as the corpse of a local woman, brutally murdered and then thrown into the bog, the calm pleasure of Rose's holiday is shattered.

When the circus arrives in Edinburgh, Rose McQuinn is delighted. However, the festivities are overshadowed by the murder of a clerk during a bank robbery and the suicides of two young women. Are these deaths straightforward or could they all be linked to one killer? Rose’s ex-fiancé, Inspector Jack Macmerry, believes that Rose can help with his inquiries and she finds suspicious links with the circus and the behaviour of a sinister scar-faced clown.

Rose McQuinn has agreed to help her neighbour, Mrs. Lawer, by delivering what she claims to be a family legacy to her only living relative. But Rose’s philanthropic journey takes a turn towards the dangerous when she herself is attacked on a train and Mrs. Lawer and her maid are found dead upon her return to Edinburgh. Investigating further, Rose finds links to Royal history, the theatre world, and her own home in Solomon’s Tower. Balancing the murder investigation along with her obligations to family and friends, Rose discovers ties that seem to reveal that the past has not completely left the present.