The brilliant new crime novel from Ian Rankin, showing all the skills that made Rebus the most popular character in modern crime fiction. For the right man, all doors are open....

Mike Mackenzie is a self-made man with too much time on his hands and a bit of the devil in his soul. He is looking for something to liven up the days and perhaps give new meaning to his existence.

A chance encounter at an art auction offers him the opportunity to do just that as he settles on a plot to commit a "perfect crime". He intends to rip-off one of the most high-profile targets in Edinburgh: the National Gallery of Scotland.

So, together with two close friends from the art world, he devises a plan to lift some of the most valuable artwork around. But of course, the real trick is to rob the place for all it's worth whilst persuading the world that no crime was ever committed.

But soon after he enters the dark waters of the criminal underworld, he realises that it's very easy to drown.