Rebus investigates a series of murders where the killer leaves distinctive clues by the butchered bodies of his victims.

A Kurdish asylum seeker is murdered on a notorious Edinburgh estate in an apparent race-hate attack, but Rebus suspects there's more to it. A local MSP reports a missing Kosovan girl, last seen with a known criminal, who also seems to have vanished.

The detective angers his superiors when he tries to connect a member of Edinburgh's criminal fraternity to the shooting of two boys and a teacher at a local college. One of the victims turns out to be the son of Rebus's cousin, giving Templar the perfect reason to take him off the case. However, the copper is determined to trace a schoolgirl he is certain holds the key to the mystery.

A charity campaigner is caught with a prostitute during a raid on a brothel. Rebus heads a double murder enquiry when the man's wife and another woman are found dead in connected incidents.