The Second Stranger: A Novel

An electric, locked-room suspense thriller set in the remote Scottish Highlands, where icy temperatures and a terrible blizzard prevent any ideas of escape—from a brilliant new voice in crime fiction.One bitterly cold February night at the remote MacKinnon Hotel, Remie Yorke begins her last shift at the front desk as the snow begins to fall. She has booked a one-way flight for the next day—and she’s never coming back to Scotland. Or so she thinks. As the storm quickly invades the surrounding Highlands, the roads become impassable and the phone lines fall dead. When the icy temperatures plummet further, an injured man stumbles into the hotel lobby from the blizzard. Police Constable Don Gaines has been in a car accident on the mountain road, and Remie welcomes him to safety. Gaines tells her that the other survivor of the accident is a dangerous prisoner who is now at-large; and Gaines is sure he is heading their way. Then a second injured visitor arrives—also introducing himself as Constable Don Gaines. Both claim to want to protect Remie and the hotel’s remaining guests. Both are convincing. Remie doesn’t know who to trust. But she must endure a deadly night before dawn breaks, and if she doesn’t succumb to the cold, one of these men will surely kill her first. And she has no idea why they have chosen to come to the MacKinnon Hotel . . .