The last witness

the long version

"James Machie was a man with a genius for violence, his criminal empire spreading beyond Glasgow into England and mainland Europe. Fortunately, James Machie is dead, assassinated in the back of a prison ambulance following his trial and subsequent conviction. But now, five years later, he is apparently back from the grave, set on avenging himself on those who brought him down. At the top of his list is his previous associate, Frank MacDougall, who, unbeknownst to Detective Chief Inspector Jim Daley, is living under protection on his lochside patch of land in the small Scottish town of Kinloch. Having been the key to Machie's conviction, Detective Daley also knows that his old friend and colleague D. S. Scott is almost as big a target. And nothing, not even death, has ever stood in James Machie's way'--