They found Olivia's body the night the blackbirds died. Now Alex
is determined to find answers. On December 31st, 2010, the night
5,000 blackbirds drop dead and descend like a dark blanket over a
small American town in the sleepy state of Arkansas, the body of
a teenage girl is discovered battered and abandoned on a Shetland
beach.
Alex McCarthy, her fourteen year old sister, is left to pick up
the pieces after the brutal discovery and soon feels the burden
of carrying her family through this tragedy. Committed to finding
the killer, who she is convinced still hides within the walls of
the subarctic village on Shetland, she partners with the assigned
detective. Dishevelled, sometimes intoxicated, and harbouring his
own demons, Detective Inspector Birkens is eager to close the
case and get on with the start of his retirement. But this will
be his toughest case yet.