When a wealthy banker's daughter goes missing from Edinburgh University, Detective Inspector John Rebus has little to go on in his investigations. It's difficult to know whether she's dead or alive, whether she has been kidnapped or is simply on the run. Before long, however, Rebus has a hunch that there is more to this missing person's report than meets the eye. His first clue is found in the student's home village: it is a carved wooden doll lain inside a six-inch coffin.
Arctic explorer, survival expert and naturalist Freddy Spencer Chapman was trapped behind enemy lines when the Japanese overran Malaya in 1942. His response was to begin a commando campaign of such lethal effectiveness that the Japanese deployed an entire regiment against him, hunting for him as they did for no other. He was wounded, and racked by tropical disease. His companions were killed, or captured...