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Simo had seen wounds like this before, but that was twenty-six years ago. He'd hoped never to see them again. He didn't need the distraction of Mackinnon's disappearance but he was the only one with sufficient command of the English language. When Ryan's blood-stained bike is found, Simo's boss, Josif Borisov, is keen to charge Heather. It would be a high-profile case and Borisov is running for office. It should be easy too: even Heather can't be certain about what she's done and there are reports of the pair arguing, of her attacking other people. Then Simo began to wonder exactly who Ryan Mackinnon was: much of what Ryan had told Heather simply didn't add up.

I was halfway through the book when I'd only intended two read a couple of chapters 'to get a feel for what it was like'. I don't have a particular interest in cycle racing and I worried that much of the plot would go over my head. It didn't and I know a lot more about the sport than I did a few days ago. I know more too about the conflict between Bosnia and Serbia, how decades later the ill feeling and enmity is still as strong. Solomons paints the scenes as sensitively as possible but there were times when I could have wept.