Jean Brash - the best brothel keeper in Victorian Edinburgh, businesswoman and a brilliant foil to the BBC's Inspector James McLevy - now turned sleuth in her own right. After Mistress of the Just Land, the second adventure in David Ashton's Jean Brash series...

Jean Brash is beautiful, intelligent and in her prime. Owner of The Just Land, the best and most successful brothel in Victorian Edinburgh, she's seen the highs and lows of society and been on both sides of the law, much to the frustration of her sparring partner, Inspector James McLevy. And Jean has a mind to do some sleuthing of her own ...It's Spring and Jean Brash is raring to go. But past, present and future collide to undermine that desire. A theatre company arrives in Leith to perform King Lear. A ruthless robbery is planned, a gruesome murder committed, both of which set Inspector James McLevy on the prowl, and Jean's past returns in the form of bad seed from a vicious killer. Even more lethally, her own lost family life explodes in the present, as a wild young actress who trails violence and death behind her, involves Jean in a dangerous complex game that threatens to destroy the very root of her identity. When you look death in the face, it's best not to blink - otherwise the play is over.

Ashton's McLevy is a man obsessed with meting out justice and with demons of his own