After her father's death, Leigh Welles returns home to a small island off the Scottish coast. It's a few years after VE day, but the islanders still live in the shadow of World War II…especially Iain MacTavish, a young RAF vet and widower. Every October, blackbirds descend on the community—locals call them sluagh, referring to ominous creatures of Celtic legend thought to carry the souls of the dead—and this year they are particularly restless. When a young man disappears, Leigh and Iain are thrown together to search for him, sifting through ancient mythology and their own pasts to reveal the island's dark history, and to find a way to heal and move forward in this hauntingly atmospheric novel tinged with otherworldly mystery.