On a clear moonlit night, DI Kelso Strang hears the spine-chilling howl of a wolf. It is not the only unsettling thing he discovers about the remote village of Inverbeg. Sean Reynolds, obsessive about rewilding his estate, is rumoured to have taken steps to hurry it on, to the anger of the local farmers.

And then there are the whispers about an elderly lady, burdened with ugly secrets, who died some months before. Her best friend believes she was murdered. When fresh horror strikes Inverbeg, Strang feels that further retribution is at work, but as the ground keeps shifting under his feet he faces his biggest challenge yet.