From BooklistEdinburgh police chief Bob Skinner, happily married and the proud father of a bouncing baby boy, finds it difficult to tear himself away from his family to investigate a murder. But investigate he must when multimillionaire Michael White is found in the Jacuzzi of the newly opened Witches' Hill Golf Club, his throat sliced open from ear to ear. With a world-class, million-dollar tournament due to start the next day, the club owners are desperate to keep the murder quiet. They--and Skinner--are hoping for a quick solve, but Skinner's leads are scant. Hoping to pick up some solid clues, Skinner joins a tournament foursome--and takes some good-natured ribbing about his golf game--in an effort to track the killer. Skinner encounters a coven of witches, business moguls, bloodthirsty rivalries, and more killings before he eventually nails the killer, thanks to solid police work. An intriguing look at golf as big business, combined with Jardine's deft plotting and skillful writing, makes this another winning entry in an outstanding police procedural series. Emily MeltonFrom Kirkus ReviewsIt isn't enough that the crowd of golfers, backers, moneymen, and hangers-on assembled for the opening of Witches' Hill, the Marquis of Kinture's sparkling new course, are collectively so far off the testosterone meter that any of them could have slit the throat of Kinture's partner, Michael White, as he sat in his bath in the clubhouse. No, because just as Assistant Chief Constable Robert Skinner's crew are casting their nets over the illustrious assemblage, an anonymous note to the Scotsman cryptically suggests that the killing is the fulfillment of an ancient witch's curse--a curse that has three more rounds to run. Skinner, still reeling from the news that his daughter had been shacking up with his ladies'-man prot‚g‚ Andy Martin (whom she's now run out on in a frenzy of mutual recriminations), realizes to his astonishment that his knowledge of the curse comes to him via his late first wife. Her taped testimony from beyond the grave sets him on the trail of a 400-year-old mystery he solves in time to christen the new course himself with a splendidly improbable climactic round of golf. Though Skinner's fourth case (Skinner's Trail, p. 644) lacks the headlong momentum of his early work, it's the most polished and mystifying of them all--and a convincing illustration of Jardine's growing versatility. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

In Edinburgh's old Parliament House, an armed robbery trial is about to take a macabre turn. While the lawyers tussle over the evidence, the judge suddenly collapses in agony - the victim of an apparent heart attack. For Deputy Chief Constable Bob Skinner, with his life finally back on track after the near-collapse of his marriage, the last thing he needs is to be faced with the most baffling case of his career. But as the wave of brutal robberies continues, it emerges that Lord Archergait's death may have been murder - and he's not the only judge whose life is in danger. With a gang of ruthless killers still at large, it's down to Skinner to piece together a puzzle of sinister complexity.

When an Edinburgh car showroom is torched, leaving a charred body among the burnt-out luxury cars, Deputy Chief Constable Bob Skinner wonders if a life of crime has finally caught up with one of the city’s most elusive villains. But the corpse turns out not to be that of Jackie Charles, the owner of the showroom, but his wife Carole. Skinner now finds himself on the same side as his old enemy in the search for the killer. However, Skinner's number one priority is a murder much closer to home. Ever since memories of his first wife Myra's death resurfaced under hypnosis, the question of how she really died has become an obsession which could threaten his career, his marriage and even his sanity. As Skinner and his daughter Alex unlock the hidden secrets of Myra's past, they discover a woman neither could have imagined. A Myra whose bloody fate is linked inextricably across the years with the fiery death of Carole Charles and the murderous events which it triggers.

Oz Blackstone is enjoying the success of his latest smash hit movie. But when blackmailers threaten Oz's father with a sleazy scam, the dream begins to turn to nightmare. And as Oz prepares to fight back, he knows he's being sucked into a vortex of evil.

Quintin Jardine's twenty-sixth Bob Skinner mystery sees the Edinburgh sleuth plunged into a gruelling new case in which no score will go unsettled. ****Former Chief Constable Bob Skinner has uncovered his fair share of crime scenes over his thirty-year career. But few have affected him quite as much as the horrifying sight he finds stowed in the back of a stolen car that collides with his on the outskirts of Edinburgh. As his former colleagues investigate, Skinner takes on an unusual commission of his own. The body count rises, motives appear, the hunt goes global, and potential conflicts surface. In his new guise, is Skinner is on the side of the angels...or working against them? **

When two young female artists are murdered in what looks like ritualistic killings, the pressure is on to find a highly professional murderer. What is the link with the art world? Is the killer a disgruntled art critic? A twice-jilted lover? The arrival of the father of one of the victims, millionaire businessman Davor Boras, brings in the big guns of the Home Office, MI5 and the CIA. It's not long before Deputy Chief Constable Bob Skinner gets called back to the frontline. With an estranged son, a dubious assistant and connections in very high places, what is more important to Boras: business or family? There's too much at stake - there's going to be bloodshed - and Skinner's men are at risk of getting caught in the crossfire...