The Red, Red Snow

At the start of Ramsay’s gripping 11th Scottish police procedural featuring Det. Chief Insp. Colin Anderson and Det. Insp. Winifred “Freddie” Costello (after 2018’s The Sideman), Eric Callaghan, a father picking up an order for his family at a crowded Glasgow food court, collapses. Callaghan doesn’t realize at first that he’s been stabbed in the back—with a sharp, narrow blade, as the autopsy later indicates. A week later, Anderson, Costello, and their team head off for the remote village of Riske. Two people have been found dead in a vacation rental cottage. Heavy snows have covered the area, and the only footprints leading to the house are those of the local lad who discovered the bodies. Could there be a connection between these two seemingly unsolvable murder cases? Ramsay judiciously balances Anderson’s complicated family woes with nuts and bolts police work and keen detecting skills. Pithy dialogue, plenty of wintery Highland atmosphere, and villains that readers will love to hate make this a perfect accompaniment for a wee dram by the fireside. Agent: Jane Gregory, David Higham Assoc. (U.K.). (June)