The Killing Tide by Lin Anderson

The title of this latest novel in a series by crime writer Lin Anderson sounds like a seafaring idiom. Tides wait for no man and can be stemmed, turned and swum with or against, but the tide that washes up an abandoned ship on Orkney is not responsible for the deaths which have occurred on board.

Three bodies are found in horrifying circumstances – two men dressed as Vikings are dead from sword wounds in a fighting arena on the ship, while a third body has been burned. Forensic pathologist Rhona MacLeod is sent to investigate.

The descriptions of the ensuing autopsies are not for the weak of stomach, but if you are the sort who is fascinated to learn that forensically testing vomit won’t give up the identity of the person who emitted it – and

I find that I am – you shouldn’t be fazed.

The palpable descriptions of the smell of a burned human, however, could finish you off.

Characters in the series are clearly long established with backstories and tangled relationships with each other. Previous cases are referred to, which could bemuse a first-time reader, but fans will enjoy the updates on who is sleeping with who, and which characters are bearing grudges.

Glasgow cop DS Michael

McNab takes centre stage, along with journalist Ava Clouston, who has returned to her family’s Orkney farm after her parents’ deaths. McNab is a complicated character, not wholly likeable in his unhealthy fixation with an ex-girlfriend.

It is a cracking story, told at breakneck speed. The love lives of the characters are as complicated as the crimes, with hook-ups on the overnight sleeper and flirtations on the Orkney helicopter. Who knew transport could be such a hotbed of romance?