'Taut with tension and an air of authority that stems from Knight's expertise in Scottish History' -- Irish Times

A man lies under the tawny earth, hands still clutching the knife that killed him.Thorfinn Sigurdarson, Earl of all Orkney and Caithness, has made a mistake, and he won't let himself forget it. Now rumours have started in the Norse lands that he might be getting a second chance - but should he take it, when it means that dead men are walking?

In June 1916, Field Marshal Lord Kitchener set sail from Orkney on a secret mission to bolster the Russian war effort. Just a mile off land and in the teeth of a force 9 gale, HMS Hampshire suffered a huge explosion, sinking in little more than fifteen minutes. Crew and passengers numbered 749; only twelve survived. Kitchener's body was never found. Remembered today as the face of the famous First World War recruitment drive, at the height of his career Kitchener was fêted as Britain's greatest military hero since Wellington. By 1916, however, his star was in its descent. A controversial figure who did not make friends easily in Cabinet, he was considered by many to be arrogant, secretive and high-handed. From the moment his death was announced, rumours of a conspiracy began to flourish, with the finger pointed variously at the Bolsheviks, Irish nationalist saboteurs and even the British government. Using newly released files kept secret for almost 100 years, former Cabinet minister David Laws unravels the true story behind the demise of this complex figure, debunking the conspiracy theories and revealing the crucial blunders that the government and military sought to cover up. The result is the definitive account of an event that shook the country and which has been shrouded in mystery ever since.

Written around AD 1200 by an unnamed Icelandic author, the Orkneyinga Saga is an intriguing fusion of myth, legend and history. The only medieval chronicle to have Orkney as the central place of action, it tells of an era when the islands were still part of the Viking world, beginning with their conquest by the kings of Norway in the ninth century. The saga describes the subsequent history of the Earldom of Orkney and the adventures of great Norsemen such as Sigurd the Powerful, St Magnus the Martyr and Hrolf, the conqueror of Normandy. Savagely powerful and poetic, this is a fascinating depiction of an age of brutal battles, murder, sorcery and bitter family feuds. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

The year is 1860 and Inspector Faro has been transported back to one of the darkest moments of his career - the chase of the notorious Macheath across the Scottish border to the Kent countryside. Whilst there, Faro meets an old school friend, Erland Flett, who is working alongside the artist William Morris and the Pre-Raphaelites whose unconventional lifestyle is a startling revelation. Erland is about to marry a beautiful but mysterious young lady, Lena Hamilton. Faro recognises her as the famous Madeleine Smith, accused of murdering her lover, but never convicted. Now Faro realises that he must apprehend Macheath and save his friend from certain death at the hands of the ruthless Miss Smith.and time is running out.

1861. Constable Faro is heading home to Orkney, pursuing a private investigation into the mysterious drowning of an ex-colleague's relative, champion swimmer Dave Claydon. Was this an accident or does Claydon's death have a sinister connection with missing artefacts recovered from the Armada galleon sunk off Spanish Cove? At Scarthbreck his mother is determined to find him a wife and this Lammastide the legend of the seal king's annual claim of a human bride becomes reality. Faro's holiday and his original secret mission turn into a nightmare. With himself as the prime suspect in the girl's disappearance, he is in deadly danger, his life threatened by circumstances beyond his control.

1861. When the body of an unknown woman is found in an Edinburgh close, Detective Constable Faro assumes the killing is a random act of violence - until he finds a playing card, the nine of diamonds, underneath her corpse. His superiors scoff at his suspicions of a serial killer, but days later a man is attacked in the street, and left badly bruised and battered with the nine of diamonds in his pocket. Faro believes there's a connection. He must contend with other problems, though, if he is to solve the case. Detective Sergeant Gosse does his best to frame suspect after suspect, but remains constantly irritated by his detective constable. And although Faro's sweetheart Lizzie loves him deeply, he is not sure if he feels the same way. And what of Inga St Ola, Faro's first and only true love from his native Orkney? Amongst all this, a servant at Lizzie's place of work goes missing. Could her disappearance be linked to the playing-card killer? Beset by hostile superiors and a police-hating public, Faro feels he may never crack this confounding case.