"Sergeant Hamish Macbeth is alarmed to receive a report from a woman in the small village of Cromish in the Scottish Highlands. She claims to have been brutally attacked by a criminal who is now on the loose, but upon further investigation, Macbeth discovers that she was lying about the incident. When the same woman calls him back about an intruder, he advises her to go and see a psychiatrist about her compulsion to lie. But much to Macbeth's dismay, this time it appears she was telling the truth--the woman's body is found in her home. Now, Hamish must sort through the tangled web of lies and figure out what really happened."--Back cover