The Mortsafe

The lights went out. . . . A mortsafe is an iron cage locked over a grave to deter body snatchers. They haven't been seen in Scottish kirkyards for almost two centuries. So why is a mortsafe lying next to a pair of decayed bodies in one of Edinburgh's infamous underground vaults? Newlyweds Jean Fairbairn and Alasdair Cameron are called out on the cold case, in the coldest part of the year, brightened only by the red paper hearts of Valentine's Day in the shop windows. It's when living, beating hearts are stopped too soon that memories can become cages stronger than iron. No deaths are ever entirely forgotten, not when businessmen from ghost hunters to restaurateurs can profit from them. Not when earning a living can sometimes become secondary to simply staying alive. It's February in the ancient city of Edinburgh, where footsteps echo in secret passages, and lovers don't always have the time to make memories together.