Do you believe in ghosts? Do we really live on in some conscious form after we die, and is that form capable of communicating with the world of the living?...Aye, right. Scotland has often been depicted as a land of haunting, misty moors and literary genius. But Scotland has also been a place of brutal crime, terrifying murder, child abuse, and bank robbery. Crime can strike anywhere. Jasmine soon uncovers Tessa’s involvement in a drug-riddled Highlands estate retreat replete with occult rituals, which implicates more than a few people in the upper echelons of Scotland’s arts scene. Tessa’s disappearance in the summer of 1981 begins to look increasingly like murder, but the guilty will stop at nothing to keep the truth hidden. Then her son Ross, a researcher working for an arms manufacturer in Switzerland, is forced to disappear before some rather shady and dangerous characters persuade him to part with the secrets of his research.

We could tell you about the bodies. We could tell you their names, where they were found, the state they were in. We could tell you about the suspects too, the evidence, the investigators; join a few dots, even throw you a motive. But what would be the point? You're going to make your own assumptions anyway. After all, you know these people, don't you? You went to school with them. We all did. Granted, that was twenty years ago, but how much does anybody really change? Exactly. So if you really knew them then, you'll already have all the answers. If you really knew them then... All the characters in this story are interesting, even the bad guy, who you really can't wait to see get his comeuppance. The pacing of the story keeps you guessing, but gets you to the end at a gallop. This story has a political thread running through it. Without spoiling the plot, I think I can say that readers who are interested in the way health care, politics and government work (or don’t work) together will be pleased. The novel raises some interesting and scary issues.There is also a great deal of wit, both in the dialogue and in Brookmyre’s writing style. Plenty of the humour is what I would call cheerfully profane, and readers should know that some of the descriptions in the novel, especially of the crime scene, are not at all for the faint of heart. But it is all in keeping with the screwball noir kind of story that this is. Despite the wit, the story itself is very sobering. I don’t want to give spoilers, but the prospects raised by the story are frightening, mostly because when you strip the fictional elements away, they’re not that far from possibility. The story is set in Scotland so obviously a Scottish narrator suits perfectly. David Tennant has an extremely expressive voice, keeping the dialogue entertaining and the narrative passages engaging. Plus, he has a dead sexy voice that's no hardship to listen to either!Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it. I listened to this in my car and on a number of occasions simply sat in the driveway before going inside because I wanted to hear "just a little bit more". Was tempted to take a road trip somewhere just so I could listen to it all at once!

Parlabane is brought in as an observer, due to his capacities as both a sceptic and an expert on deception, but he soon finds his certainties crumbling and his assumptions turned upside down as he encounters phenomena for which he can deduce no rational explanation.

As for Dalziel and Slaughter, they are strong characters in their own right. Readers who are looking for strong female protagonists will be pleased with these women. Each is unique, but both are intelligent, resourceful, good at their jobs and interesting. And neither is at all afraid to tell Parlabane when he’s gone too far. The three protagonists work well together and complement each other. Stories is an anthology of short stories, written on themes of community and hope, by a mix of the UK’s best established writers and previously unpublished authors, whose pieces were chosen by Kathy Burke from over 250 entries. Certainly a story to listen to again, highly entertaining and even when you know whodunnit, these are characters well worth re-visiting. As one battles her demons and the other chases her ghosts, these two very different detectives will ultimately confront the secrets that have entangled both of their fates since before Jasmine was even born.