In a private school in the suburbs of Edinburgh, a former soldier shot two teenagers and then committed suicide. According to Inspector Rebus, only one thing is unclear about this crime - its reason. But the search for motives takes the detective much further than he expected. The inspector is literally obsessed with the mysterious identity of the criminal. From now on, he is his executor, called upon to understand the tangle of secrets that shroud the suicide’s past. Meanwhile, clouds are gathering over Rebus. The scumbag who was stalking his partner burned to death in his own home. And Rebus himself left the hospital with burns on his hands.