The Blood Road. Stuart MacBride

      

       Copyright

      This is a work of fiction. Any references to real people, living or dead, real events, businesses, organisations and localities are intended only to give the fiction a sense of reality and authenticity. All names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and their resemblance, if any, to real-life counterparts is entirely coincidental. The only exceptions to this are the characters Allan Doig, Danielle Smith, and Kim Fraser who the author has been authorised to fictionalise and include within this volume. All behaviour, history, and character traits assigned to their fictional representations have been designed to serve the needs of the narrative and do not necessarily bear any resemblance to the real person.

      The quotation ‘Heav’n has no rage…’ is from William Congreve’s The Mourning Bride, published in 1697.

      This book contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. – specifically section 4.3.1 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016.

      HarperCollinsPublishers,

      1 London Bridge Street,

      London, SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2018

      Copyright © Stuart MacBride 2018

      Stuart MacBride asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

      Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2018

      Cover design © Blacksheep-uk.com

      Cover image © Magdalena Russocka/Trevillion Images (road);

      Shutterstock.com (clouds)

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books

      Ebook Edition © JUNE 2018 ISBN: 9780008208233

      SOURCE ISBN: 9780008208219

      Version 2018-06-29

       Dedication

      In loving memory of Peggy Reid,

      a friend to cats, arranger of flowers,

      and producer of the best cheese straws known to man.

      1937–2017

      Table of Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

       Copyright

       Dedication

       Without Whom

       Chapter 0

       — mice (and other vermin) —

       Chapter 1

       Chapter 2

       Chapter 3

       Chapter 4

       Chapter 5

       Chapter 6

       Chapter 7

       — the widows’ waltz —

       Chapter 8

       Chapter 9

       Chapter 10

       Chapter 11

       Chapter 12

      

       Chapter 13

      

       Chapter 14

      

       Chapter 15

      

       — the mortuary songbook —

      

       Chapter 16

      

       Chapter 17