Fin Macleod returns to the outer Hebridean island of his youth to make amends and restore his parents' cottage before investigating a death involving family secrets and a sinister adversary.

When the residents of St Kilda ask to be evacuated from their remote island home in the summer of 1930, it's in search of a better life on the mainland rather than the scratch existence on their mountain in the sea. For 18-year old tomboy Effie Gillies, it's a bittersweet departure. She's the best young climber on the island, as skilled and brave as any of the men. But it is Effie's expansive knowledge of local bird life that leads her to taking up...