On a hot summer day, Joanna Mason's family slowly wanders home along a country lane. A moment later, Joanna's life is changed forever. On a dark night thirty years later, ex-detective Jackson Brodie finds himself on a train that is both crowded and late. Lost in his thoughts, he suddenly hears a shocking sound. At the end of a long day, 16-year-old Reggie is looking forward to watching a little TV. Then a terrifying noise shatters her peaceful evening....

Isabel and her fianc know who they are and where they come from. But not everybody is so fortunate, and some, like Jane, a visiting Australian philosopher on sabbatical in Edinburgh, have more questions than answers.

"Laid off from her department store job, Carmen has little cash and few options. Spending Christmas with her perfect sister Sofia and her perfectly ordered life does not appeal. But Sofia has a client who needs help revitalizing his bookshop. So Carmen moves in and takes the job. Thrown into the workings of Mr. McCredie's ancient bookshop in historic Edinburgh, Carmen is intrigued. The store is dusty and disorganized but undeniably charming. Can she...

"A young girl's mutilated body is discovered in a room that has lain sealed for the last sixty years. Her remains are carefully arranged in what seems to have been a macabre ritual. For newly appointed Edinburgh Detective Inspector Tony McLean, this baffling cold case ought to be a low priority, but he is haunted by the young victim and her grisly death. Meanwhile, the city is horrified by a series of bloody killings--deaths for which there appears...

"Scotland Street witnesses the wedding of the century of Angus Lordie to Domenica Macdonald, but as the newlyweds depart on their honeymoon, Edinburgh is in disarray. While recovering from the trauma of being best man, Matthew is taken up by a Dane called Bo. Cyril eludes his dog-sitter and embarks on an odyssey involving fox holes and the official residence of a cardinal. Narcissist Bruce meets his match in the form of a sinister doppelganger. Bertie,...

"Bookseller Delaney Nichols befriends a Loch Ness monster enthusiast; when he stands accused of murder she'll do whatever it takes to learn who the killer is--and whether Nessie herself is really lurking in the Scottish waters. Delaney Nichols is delighted with her life in Edinburgh, working at The Cracked Spine--a shop that specializes in hard-to-find books and artifacts. With a job she loves, and her fast approaching marriage to devastatingly handsome...

"A new baby brings an abundance of joy to Isabel Dalhousie and her husband, Jamie--but Isabel's almost four-year-old son, Charlie, is none too keen on his newborn brother. In fact, Charlie refuses to acknowledge Magnus, and Isabel must find a way to impress upon her older son the patience and understanding that have served as guiding principles in her own life. These are, of course, the qualities that bring Rosemary Hipple, an old acquaintance of...

"Ten days after Jaya Mackenzie's mum dies, angels start falling from the sky. Smashing down to earth at extraordinary speeds, wings bent, faces contorted, not a single one has survived. Hysteria mounting with every Being that drops, Jaya's father uproots the family to Edinburgh intent on catching one alive. But Jaya can't stand this obsession and, struggling to make sense of her mother's sudden death and her own role on that fateful day, she's determined...