The west coast town of Ayr is the backdrop to A Taste of Ashes, the second of Tony Black’s novels featuring DI Bob Valentine. He is a cop who places himself – literally – at the sharp end, as he is just returning to duty after being stabbed in the heart. He is straight back into action trying to trace a missing mother and daughter, as well as solving a murder connected to the military. There’s more! Valentine is a visionary because he can see apparitions of crime victims just before they die, and he suspects that this is due to his own near-death experience at the end of a blade. You can read the review here.
