The Cuillin Dead
Life is full of choices. Death... is chosen for you...When the body of a missing tourist is discovered slain in the foothills of the Cuillin Mountain range, it falls to D.I. Duncan McAdam and his small team to discover how he came to be there and who would have a motive to kill him.
The summer season is a welcome distraction following a brutal and challenging winter. The Isle of Skye is booming with a revitalised tourist trade after a tough few years, and the Misty Isle is on course for its best year for visitors on record. But one person has not received the warm greeting the islanders are famed for. Here, on the inner Hebridean island, long-held secrets, past crimes and burning resentment are set to be unveiled in the most brutal fashion.
Some people come to the island to experience a return to nature, others to detach from their hectic lives seeking a simpler existence. And then there are those who wish to escape their past and begin again. These people believe they are making a fresh start but overlook one universal truth, their sins come with them... and there will be a reckoning...
The Cuillin Dead is the fourth book in the new Amazon #1 bestselling Misty Isle series from the multi-million selling crime writer, J M Dalgliesh, the author of the Hidden Norfolk and Dark Yorkshire books.
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J M Dalgliesh
Before he ever penned a crime scene or built the quiet tension of a small-town mystery, J.M. Dalgliesh was drawn to the shadows that linger at the edges of everyday life—the things left unsaid, the truths that hide beneath the surface. Raised in Norfolk, England, his early years were spent surrounded by the kind of windswept coastlines and weather-beaten streets that would later seep into the moody, atmospheric settings of his novels.
Dalgliesh didn’t follow the traditional literary path. His journey into writing came after years of working with people from all walks of life, experiences that gave him a sharp eye for the unspoken complexities of human nature. That empathy, coupled with a natural instinct for suspense, forms the backbone of his storytelling. His books often explore the fractures beneath seemingly tranquil communities, peeling back layers of civility to reveal the quiet violence that can lurk within.
The Misty Isle
Tucked between brooding skies and rugged coastline, The Misty Isle series whispers its secrets through wind-scoured cliffs and the echo of waves crashing on ancient rock. This is not the Scotland of postcards—it’s the darker, quieter version, where every stone seems to remember and every silence carries weight. In this shadowy corner of the world, D.I. Duncan McAdam returns to Skye, not just to solve crimes, but to face the ghosts that never quite left him.
The Misty Isle consists of seven books and series is set to expand with the upcoming release of one more book. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.

