Edinburgh, Yuletide 1743: Seconded back from the wars in Europe to captain the city’s Town Guard, Redcoat officer Robert Catto fears his covert mission to assess the strength of the Jacobite threat will force him to confront the past he tries so hard to forget. Christian Rankeillor, her surgeon-apothecary father and his apprentice Jamie Buchan of Balnamoon are committed supporters of the Stuart Cause. They’re hiding a Jacobite agent with a price on his head in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary: a hanging offence.