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  • Location: Scottish Highlands

The Cutting

The Cutting

Why a Booktrail?

2026: The most dangerous voices are the ones that no one else can hear…

  • ISBN: 978-1917764490
  • Genre: Crime, Ghost/supernatural

What you need to know before your trail

Evie Cartwright first speaks to the dead as a child. When she leaves home for university, her ability takes a terrifying turn after she witnesses a brutal murder. By morning, she is haunted by a dead serial killer who refuses to leave her alone, and marked by a cut across her neck that never heals.

For the next ten years, Evie is driven from place to place, searching for a way to rid herself of the voice that torments her day and night. When desperation leaves her with nowhere else to turn, she arrives at the remote Highland home of Annie Jackson, hoping she will finally find answers.

As Annie and her brother Lewis begin to investigate, helped by an old friend with specialist knowledge of the occult, they are drawn into a dark and dangerous search that reaches deep into Scotland’s history.

And some ghosts are not content to remain in the shadows…

Travel Guide

Ayr and the Scottish Highlands

The characters in the book uncover a legacy of brutal historical deeds embedded in the local landscape. This includes centuries of bloodshed, territorial violence, and dark secrets buried deep within the Highland soil.

Annie Jackson’s Highland Home:  Annie’s house site somewhere very remote, tucked deep within the Scottish Highlands.

The Unnamed Highland Loch: A central physical fixture where the characters live close to. It acts as a metaphor for hidden history and plays a major role in building the eerie, folklore-heavy tone of the story and investigation.

Isolated Cottages and Historic Ruins:  Annie and her brother Lewis investigate the goings on in this story, they come across long-abandoned rural and old stone buildings  – typical of many small, insular Highland communities. Where you can  hear the whispers of those old stones….

BookTrail Boarding Pass: The Cutting

Destination/location: Scottish Highlands. Ayr  Author/guide: Michael Malone Departure Time: 2026

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