The Bird That Did Not Sing

It is August 2013 and Detective Superintendent William Lorimer has been called out to the site of a large explosion.  Was it terrorists doing a dry run in preparation for the upcoming Glasgow Commonwealth Games or something else?  Because it was terror related, the case was passed on to Special Branch.

At this same time, Lorimer's old high school sweetheart has arranged a twenty year reunion.  That same night her husband passes away in their apartment.  She has no one to turn to, so Lorimer and his wife take her in.  Tox screen tests show that the man didn't die of a heat attack, but rather from  poison that made it look like a heart attack.  Later, when Lorimer returned to the apartment he found nothing that could point to suicide; this looked more like a homicide.

Lorimer's plate is filling up fast as he now has an additional murder case.  A young woman has been killed and left out in the countryside.  Because he is friends with the widow of the other case, he is taken off of it, allowing him to focus on the latter.

A tattoo artist is found who had applied a tattoo to a young girl, similar to the victim.  However, the address given was fictitious.  Does Lorimer have a human smuggling ring on his hands?

As Sir Walter Scott said in a poem "Oh! What a tangled web we weave when we practise to deceive", so too is the plot of Alex Gray's thriller 'The Bird That Did Not Sing'.  A thoroughly enjoyable read that was very hard to put down.