Cruel Summer

<p><strong>Zoe Callahan is having the summer from hell... and it's about to get a whole lot worse.</strong></p><p><br></p><p>She's stuck in a dead-end job her relationship is going nowhere and the long shadow of the Kelvingrove Park Murders - which three years ago upended the lives of both her and her best friend Anna Scavolini - continues to exert its hold on her.</p><p><br></p><p>When a prostitute is brutally assaulted by Dominic Ryland a rising political star Zoe leaps at the chance to take on a noble cause vowing to bring him to justice. But she soon finds herself on the wrong side of some seriously dangerous people: men who have no qualms about silencing her by any means necessary.</p><p><br></p><p>As Glasgow simmers under a sweltering heatwave and tensions rise throughout the city Zoe and Anna are once again drawn into a web of secrets and shocking revelations with a heavy price to pay for everyone involved - not least Zoe who's about to realise she's got far more to lose than she ever thought.</p><p><br></p><p><strong style=color: rgba(33 37 41 1)>A powerful character-driven thriller with twists and turns a-plenty <em>Cruel Summer</em> is the sequel to M.R. Mackenzie's McIlvanney Prize-nominated debut <em>In the Silence</em> and the second instalment in the Anna Scavolini series.</strong></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><strong>Praise for M.R. Mackenzie</strong></p><p><br></p><p>'Brings a fresh new voice to the field of Tartan Noir.' - James Oswald</p><p><br></p><p>'Writes with precision and passion.' - Caro Ramsay</p><p><br></p><p>'Splendidly written stuff.' - Barry Forshaw <em>Crime Time</em></p><p><br></p><p>'An immersive slow burn of a tale peppered with disquieting fire-crackers of revelation.' - Morgan Cry</p><p><br></p><p>'Mackenzie has come up with something that defies easy definition and is truly original.' - Paul Burke <em>NB Magazine</em></p><p><br></p><p>'Up there with the best contemporary authors working today.' - David B. Lyons</p>