Acting Detective Inspector Roberta Steel has never been shy, but she’s finally retiring. After 30 years of policing Aberdeen’s underbelly, she’s all set for her twilight years to feature gardening gloves, afternoon tea, crossword puzzles and shouting at the television. So when a body turns up in a wheelie bin, it looks like an excellent way to round off her career and go out with a bang. But the Northeast of Scotland isn’t finished with her yet. There’s a violent protest to stop; far-right populist politicians and sketchy government spooks; a by-election; drugs, dogs and baby-doll nighties; and a desperate ex-colleague, begging her for help. With only her Queen Street Irregulars for backup, and the top brass desperate to get rid of her, these final few weeks just might be the death of her.

Inspector Logan McRae is looking forward to a nice simple case --- something to ease him back into work after a year off on the sick. But the powers-that-be have other ideas. The high-profile anti-independence campaigner, Professor Wilson, has gone missing, leaving nothing but bloodstains behind. There’s a war brewing between the factions for and against Scottish Nationalism. Infighting in the police ranks. And it’s all playing out in the merciless glare of the media. Logan’s superiors want results, and they want them now. Someone out there is trying to make a point, and they’re making it in blood. If Logan can’t stop them, it won’t just be his career that dies.

Logan McRae’s personal history is hardly squeaky clean, but now that he works for Professional Standards, he’s policing his fellow officers. When Detective Inspector Bell turns up dead in the driver’s seat of a crashed car, it’s a shock to everyone. Because Bell died two years ago, and they buried him. Or so they thought. As an investigation is launched into Bell’s stabbing, Logan digs into his past. Where has he been all this time? Why did he disappear? And what’s so important that he felt the need to come back from the dead? But the deeper Logan digs, the more bones he uncovers --- and there are people out there who will kill to keep those skeletons buried.

Detective Chief Inspector Roberta Steel got caught fitting up Jack Wallace --- that’s why they demoted her and quashed his sentence. Now he’s back on the streets and women are being attacked again. Wallace has to be responsible, but if Detective Sergeant Steel goes anywhere near him, his lawyers will get her thrown off the force for good. The Powers That Be won’t listen to her, not after what happened last time. According to them, she has more than enough ongoing cases to keep her busy. Perhaps she could try solving a few instead of harassing an innocent man? Steel knows Wallace is guilty. And the longer he gets away with it, the more women will suffer. The question is: How much is she willing to sacrifice to stop him?

Welcome to the Misfit Mob. It’s where Police Scotland dumps the officers it can’t get rid of, but wants to: the outcasts, the troublemakers, the compromised. Officers like DC Callum MacGregor, lumbered with all the boring go-nowhere cases. So when an ancient mummy turns up at the Oldcastle tip, it’s his job to find out which museum it’s been stolen from. But then Callum uncovers links between his ancient corpse and three missing young men, and life starts to get a lot more interesting. No one expects the Misfit Mob to succeed, but right now they’re the only thing standing between the killer’s victims and a slow, lingering death. The question is, can they prove everyone wrong before he strikes again?

Sergeant Logan McRae’s missing-persons investigation has just turned up a dead body in the woods. The Major Investigation Team charges up from Aberdeen, under the beady eye of Logan’s ex-boss, Detective Chief Inspector Steel. A new Superintendent is on her way up from the Serious Organised Crime Task Force, hell-bent on making Logan’s life miserable; Professional Standards are gunning for Steel; and Wee Hamish Mowat, head of Aberdeen’s criminal underbelly, is dying --- leaving rival gangs from all over the UK eying his territory. There’s a war brewing, and Logan is trapped right in the middle.

A little girl’s body washes up just outside the sleepy town of Banff, kicking off a massive manhunt. The Major Investigation Team is up from Aberdeen, wanting answers, and they don’t care who they trample over to get them. Acting Detective Inspector Logan McRae has enough on his plate keeping B Division together, but DCI Steel wants him back on her team. As his old colleagues stomp around the countryside, burning bridges, Logan gets dragged deeper and deeper into the investigation.