“It is the summer of 1880, and Detective Inspector Sam McQueen has been called away from the grey, damp streets of Edinburgh to investigate a case on the oppressively hot Mediterranean island of Malta. The local police chief is distinctly unwelcoming toward the interloper—but has no choice in the matter since Admiral Collingwood’s wealthy widow insists that her husband’s fatal fall from the roof of their villa was no accident.”
From the Introduction