The graveyard

Ainslie arrives in a remote Highland glen and first sees Mary Allison in an old graveyard, where the quiet landscape seems to hide a great deal. Their brief encounter leaves him with more puzzles than answers. As he meets Mary and other residents, he slowly becomes caught up in a local mystery that his outsider's view leaves him ill-equipped to untangle.

While the puzzle grows more troubling, Ainslie takes on winter work for one of the district's landowners, thinning the surplus hinds from the red deer herds. The bleak, sparsely populated countryside forms the backdrop to this grim task, which builds toward a violent climax.