For Frank Miller, his first month in CID is a baptism of fire.
In this prequel, Miller is attending a crime scene where a woman has been found murdered at a local tourist spot. She's been operated on and vital organs removed before being crudely sewn back up again. At her postmortem, they find her ID inside her.
As Miller's girlfriend, Carol, is promoted to CID, they are both thrown in at the deep end. While they're being mentored by an experienced detective, they look for a killer who the press has dubbed The Surgeon, and they're also looking for a peeping Tom. So far, he's only been reported looking through windows, but he goes one step further and kills a young woman in her own home.
As The Surgeon's second victim is found, Miller and his colleagues know he's getting more confident with his killing.
World famous thriller writer, Len Chatter, is coming to Edinburgh to launch his new book at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. He's looking for writers to co-author a new line of books. But this time, he's attracting the attention of somebody who wants to make him more famous for all the wrong reasons...
Frank Miller will have to use everything he's being taught about being a detective to catch this killer, but as they close in on their suspect, they discover that not only is this case far more complex than they first thought, but the killer has outclassed them all.
In a shocking twist, Carol's life is put in danger, and Miller knows he's up against one of the most formidable opponents he's ever likely to meet...