Description:

**The first mystery in a truly unique crime series. 'There comes a time when a novel raises the bar for a particular genre, and *The Sea Detective* does just that for Scottish crime fiction' (*Scotsman*)** Cal McGill is an Edinburgh-based oceanographer, environmentalist and one-of-a-kind investigator. Using his knowledge of the waves - ocean currents, prevailing winds, shipping records - McGill can track where objects have come from, or where they've gone. It's a unique skill that can help solve all sorts of mysteries. Such as when two severed feet wash up miles apart on two different islands off the coast of Scotland. Most strangely, forensic tests reveal that the feet belong to the same body. As Cal McGill investigates, he unravels a web of corruption, exploitation and violence, which threatens many lives across the globe - very soon including his own... * * * **Praise for *The Sea Detective*:** * * * **'Raises the bar for Scottish crime fiction ... elegantly written and compelling'** *The Scotsman* **'Excellent'** *The Literary Review - top five crime books of the year* * * * **'Promises to be a fine series of detective novels'** *Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month* * * * **'An unusual, interesting and enthralling read'** *Shotsmag* **'A compelling protagonist' ** *T**he Times Literary Supplement* ** ### From Booklist Caladh McGill, of Edinburgh, Scotland, runs Flotsam and Jetsam Investigations, which helps environmental organizations track oil spills, disasters involving fishing nets, and the like. He’s an expert on currents and other phenomena that affect how things get from one point in the ocean to another, and he’s spent years trying to find the body of his grandfather, who died at sea during WWII. He also likes to make political statements by planting flowers on the properties of politicians. Not the sort of fella you’d expect to find headlining a crime novel, but here he is, nevertheless, trying to help a young woman find out what happened to her friend, whose body was pulled out of the ocean. This is not your traditional amateur-sleuth story. Cal and the young woman don’t even meet until we’re about two-thirds through the book. The bulk of the story is taken up by illicit flower planting and Cal’s search for his grandfather’s final resting place. Still, by the end, we’ve come to see the engaging Cal as a viable lead for an ecocrime series. Quirky but appealing. --David Pitt ### Review Raises the bar ... elegantly written and compelling. A crime writer to watch The Scotsman Always entertaining and gripping The Herald Mark Douglas-Home has created a compelling protagonist The Times Literary Supplement Excellent The Literary Review (Top Five Crime Novels of the Year)