Rebus is forced to juggle two complex cases when an old friend approaches him to trace her son, who has disappeared, and a former colleague is killed in a freak accident, which asks the question - did he kill himself or was he murdered?

The motto of the Scottish kings - Nemo mi impune lacessit ("Don't Mess With Me") sets the tone for this story. It's payback time for DI John Rebus in his pact with the crime underlord Morris Gerald Cafferty for his finding the person who put Rebus' daughter in a life-threatening coma, the result of a hit-and-run accident. This time, it's Cafferty's illegitimate son who was "six-packed" and killed, and Cafferty is calling in his chips from Rebus. Rebus has to cope with a backdrop of gun running, jailbreaks, left- and right-wing extremists, nationalists and other splinter groups who are spouting racist philosophies, and imported white-power fanatics who are perpetrating hate crimes.

Rebus investigates a series of murders where the killer leaves distinctive clues by the butchered bodies of his victims.

The body of a missing prostitute is found, and the circumstances recall an unsolved murder from twenty years before. Rebus is convinced that the prime suspect from the earlier case has struck again.

The detective angers his superiors when he tries to connect a member of Edinburgh's criminal fraternity to the shooting of two boys and a teacher at a local college. One of the victims turns out to be the son of Rebus's cousin, giving Templar the perfect reason to take him off the case. However, the copper is determined to trace a schoolgirl he is certain holds the key to the mystery.

A charity campaigner is caught with a prostitute during a raid on a brothel. Rebus heads a double murder enquiry when the man's wife and another woman are found dead in connected incidents.

A man shoots himself in the offices of an investment bank. Rebus is tipped off to a possible financial scandal, but his investigation is frustrated by powerful vested interests.

Rebus is forced to attend a training course at police school following a public outburst, with his colleagues unaware that he is actually out to expose two corrupt police officers who have been running a protection racket, and could possibly be linked to the murder of a drug dealer.

Rebus is called to investigate when the naked body of the Moderator Elect of the Church of Scotland is found in a local cruising spot with the body of a naked woman. Forced to deal with ongoing political battles between the church and its ministers, Rebus must solve the case in time for the gathering of the General Assembly.

Rebus investigates when an unidentified body is found in the grounds of a local Edinburgh hotel which is due to play host to the World Trade Summit. When another body is found in the grounds of Edinburgh castle, Special Branch intervene and warn Rebus off the case.

Rebus finds himself being investigated by an old friend after a murderer walks free on a technicality. Matters are made worse when the suspect and his brother are found dead, and the prosecutor in the case is found to have been paid off to discredit Rebus and his colleagues.

Rebus investigates when a number of women are killed with the same modus operandi as 'The Preacher', a prolific serial killer active in Edinburgh during the 1980s. But is a copycat killer at large, or has 'The Preacher' returned to finish what he started?

Rebus investigates when an old friend, DI Jack Morton, is shot during an undercover operation at a pharmaceuticals factory which has become a hub for cocaine dealing and gun-running by a well-known mobster and his latest team of upstart thugs.

A Kurdish asylum seeker is murdered on a notorious Edinburgh estate in an apparent race-hate attack, but Rebus suspects there's more to it. A local MSP reports a missing Kosovan girl, last seen with a known criminal, who also seems to have vanished.