Almost everything starts in a small way. Often it is a very small and apparently insignificant event that ends up moulding the whole shape of our lives.

And so it was for Dr Neil Anderson who had barely been in his new post at the University of Edinburgh for three months when he meets Kirsty. After no time at all, they move in together to a beautiful Georgian flat in the south side of the city and start their life together. Everything seems to be working out well for Neil. But after a throw-away comment lands him in a difficult situation, his principles are put to the test. He ultimately has no choice but to rethink his career and his life. He leaves his job, Kirsty and Edinburgh far behind for the seclusion and remote beauty of the Isle of Mull off the west coast of Scotland.

No sooner has he started to piece the bits of his shattered life together when a ship comes into Tobermory harbour whose cargo - two wolf cubs - changes the course of his life yet again. These cubs divide opinion on the island and introduce Neil to Katie, a vet on the island, and soon love once again blossoms.

A new standalone novel from Alexander McCall Smith.