Synopsis: ‘You are a police officer. This is what you do. You speak for the dead, and the desperate living.’ When Anna Cameron is promoted to Chief Inspector and moved to a new division, it should be a turning point for her. But if she thought having a female boss would make things easier, she’d reckoned without the fearsome ‘JC’ Hamilton.

Then her mother goes into a coma in a foreign country and an old woman disappears from a Glasgow care home under suspicious circumstances, and Anna’s career and personal life both threaten to implode. The gang-related murder of a young Asian boy and an assault on one of her officers only serve to turn the screws tighter – can Anna be both a good cop and a good person?

Judges’ comments: A strongly realised female protagonist in a substantial Glasgow police procedural. Anna Cameron is caught between the personal and the professional pitfalls of power and influence in the force.

Karen Campbell is a former police officer who lives in Glasgow with her family. She began writing in earnest on the renowned Glasgow University Creative Writing course, and has had several short stories published.