Cast of Characters

The Chasing Shadows Series

Book Two
Where the Red Deer Roam

Who make an appearance in the second instalment of the Chasing Shadows Series? Discover these new characters below:

James Cameron

Lord Dalwhinnie

Detective Chief Superintendent, Inverness-shire Constabulary

Childhood friend of Andrew Sutherland, Cameron worked as an engineer for Bentley before being despatched to India for Rolls-Royce. After an assassination attempt on the Maharani of Jaipur sees him enrol in the Indian Imperial Police, the outbreak of war compels him to transfer into the army. Liberated from a brutal POW camp, when he finally returns home to Scotland, his elderly father is dying and the Inverness-shire Constabulary need a new Detective Chief Superintendent.

Isla Buchanan

Housekeeper, Glenmore House

Long-suffering housekeeper, Isla was taken on at Glenmore House after her husband was killed during the War. In service as secretary and carer for venerable local advocate and sheriff, old Alexander Cameron, now his son has wandered back from the Far East with an irascible temperament and a penchant for strong drink. Despite his lordship's unbecoming manner, Isla is not about to let standards drop. With her feisty demeanour, if anyone can keep Lord Dalwhinnie in check, it will be her.

Feodor Barushnikov

Military Commissar, Red Army

Head of the Military Commissariat in the Soviet Union's Perm administrative division, Barushnikov has the responsibility for conscription of men for military service and mobilisation of local troops. An important part of his responsibilities is the payment of the monthly pension to veterans of the Great Patriotic War. Yet, when his usual round makes a surprising discovery amongst the veterans, his investigation reveals an altogether more troubling situation at the very heart of the Kremlin.

Gordon McRae

Major, Royal Marines

Gordon McRae was demoted and transferred to the Royal Marines to guard a secretive MoD facility on the north coast of Scotland. However, on the eve of the Armistice Day Parade at the new Commando Memorial, two of his unit go Absent Without Leave, prompting a countrywide search that brings him into contact with James Cameron for the first time since being disgraced by him in Malaya.

Secondary Characters: Book Two

Dmitri Golubev

Red Navy Veteran

Golubev's discovery of a shiny pair of new army boots in a field leads to the bones of a Political Deputy who went missing years earlier. Will this poor peasant and Great Patriotic War veteran be allowed to keep his feet warm for another winter?

Angus Robertson

Mechanic, McRae & Dick's

Robertson runs the Fort William branch of McRae & Dick's at top of the Pier Head Brae. A childhood friend of Cameron, their shared love of the automobile and Robertson's missing nephew bring the old playmates together.

Maj. Andrei Zagorienkov

Kremlin Chauffeur

With forged identity documents, in his role as chauffeur to the General Secretary of the Soviet Union, Andrew Sutherland gleans unique insights from within the walls of the Moscow Kremlin. Yet with a suspicious political commissar shadowing his every move, getting the information out might be harder than he thought.

James Macintyre

Chief Constable

As head of the Inverness County Police, Macintyre finds he has his work cut out keeping his temporary Detective Chief Superintendent in line. Things don't get any easier when two soldiers go AWOL from their base on the north coast and a dead body is found in the basement of a burnt out hotel.

Mairi Sinclair

District Nurse

Mairi was given the Yellow Bedroom at Glenmore House to stay in by Alexander Cameron after the old cottage hospital in Invergarry was closed. Enabling her to cover the Lochaber District more easily, things become a little more interesting when the local Bobby stops by

Robert 'Bobby' Gordon

Police Constable

Bobby Gordon's aunt just so happens to be the housekeeper at Glenmore House. Seeing as he cannot cook for toffee, the detour is a useful stop off en route to his police house out at Newtonmore. However, this also brings him into contact with the pretty District Nurse as well as his boss, the formidable 10th Lord Dalwhinnie

Sgt. John 'Jack' Grant

Royal Marines

Accompanying Major McRae down from Dounreay for the Armistice Day Service at the new Commando Memorial, it becomes apparent that something a little more sinister ties these two servicemen together. When Grant is sent on a mission to track down the two AWOL Commandos, things become messy when one of them turns up dead.

Vladimir Kalashnik

Political Deputy

The political integrity of the Kremlin is the sole responsibility of Comrade Commissar Kalashnik. Even though a series of brutal interrogations revealed nothing to incriminate Stalin's new chauffeur, Kalashnik is still openly wary of this mysterious and unknown Red Army officer.

Grace Monroe

Journalist, Inverness Courier

With the fire at Invergloy House comes an opportunity for Grace to break her first big story and distance herself from her lecherous editor. However, her encounter with the investigating officer does not go exactly as planned and things become even more fraught when Navy Regulators inform her that her father has recently gone AWOL.

Sgt. Thomas Monroe

Royal Marines

Tasked with protecting the Naval Reactor Test Establishment at HMS Neptune, Monroe becomes deeply concerned when one of his men is exposed to radioactive material. In a desperate attempt to save him, Monroe conveys the seriously ill soldier down to the Highlands where he has heard there might just be a cure.

Dr. Jennifer Ainsley

Scottish Crime Campus

Dr. Ainsley has known Hamilton since their time working cases together for Strathclyde Police. Her expertise and forensic analysis might prove the crucial element in determining who the bodies in the old Rover are and why they were killed.

Giles Lewis

Cyber Operations, GCHQ

With the quest to find Manuela gaining more ground, Hamilton and Natalia need the backup support of a top cyber operations specialist. A graduate from Cambridge and an avid gamer, Giles has all the skills they need.