Meet 'Drum', the orchestra drum who is feeling very humdrum. When Drum is feeling unhappy he stops playing and the entire orchestra comes to an embarrassing halt. But with the help of his friends - a cast of colourful instruments, as well as ironing mice and shaving pigeons - Drum realises that without him keeping the beat, they lose their way and that they need him to save the day!

The Isle of Mull, three days before Christmas, 1998. Sergeant Ivor Punch is contacted by a frantic caller, Maggie May, about a missing pilot and plane. Respected classical musician Xander Lowry has vanished without a trace after taking off, impromptu and alone, in a Cessna Needle from the airfield of a local hotel. For Punch, this strange incident takes places on the tenth anniversary of the Lockerbie disaster, in which his brother was killed. Now aged 45, Punch is a loner who slaughters sheep to unwind and survives on a diet of whisky and The Faces vinyls, and the last thing he needs is to be reminded of the past. Then Lowry's body is found, propped up on a hillside - but no plane in sight. To make matters even more frustrating, Punch - more used to employing the amateur sleuth-like services of local accomplices Randy, a musician-come-forestry-worker, and the island's gothic undertaker, Dave the Grave - must entertain an overly-keen and bureaucratic new deputy, PC Cluny, despatched from Head Office. A little girl, Iris, goes missing, and soon after another body is found. And now effigies start appearing around the island - of Punch, Lowry, Iris, Charlie and others. A sinister plot is unfolding, holding the island in its grip, and all the evidence starts to point back to the start - to the elusive Maggie May and that first phone call to Sergeant Punch . . .

'A truly original and enthralling novel...mischievous, sad, funny and truthful' Stephen Kelman, BOOKER-SHORTLISTED author of PIGEON ENGLISH 'Clever, poignant, beautiful ... peopled by a cast of brilliantly off-the-wall characters, and full of keen-eyed observations about life on a remote Scottish island - and, by extension, everywhere. A must-read' Laura Barnett, author of THE VERSIONS OF US WINNER OF THE EDINBURGH BOOK FESTIVAL FIRST BOOK AWARD, from the author also known as The Mull Historical Society. When Fingal McMillan rows out into the Atlantic never to return, his grandson Alexander is left with questions. What really happened to Alexander's mother? Was his grandfather trying to reach The Looming, a rock of local myth? And why have mysterious words appeared on the cliff by the bay? Alexander is not the only local boy whose origins are clouded by mystery - a mystery which stretches back to Victorian times, when a pioneering travel writer alighted on Scottish shores. But will the island give up its secrets? Or will Ivor Punch - the man who links the past to the present - take them to the grave?

David MacPherson has just lost both his parents in a tragic accident, and has to accompany their coffins all the way from Victorian London to an isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands, where they are to be buried, and where he is to live with his Auntie Mary and her two children, Paul and Sarah. 'After lunch, David decided to take some flowers to place on his parents' graves. As he came to the tiny track that led from the road down to the shore of the loch, he had a clear view of the burial plots. He could hardly believe his eyes. A stag... a pure white stag with magnificent antlers was standing in front of his father's grave, pawing at the newly filled-in soil with one of its front hooves. What was it trying to do? To dig up his father's grave? Why? Surely deer were herbivores, weren't they? "Hey " he cried. The stag looked up at him. Even at that distance, David knew that it was the creature that had been spying on him from the undergrowth during the burial service. Although wild deer tend to shy away from humans, this particular stag stood its ground; even turning its attention back to the grave, its hoof still pressed on the freshly laid turf. David picked up a stone and started to descend towards the shore line. He checked the grave for any signs of damage. All he could see was the unmistakeable imprint of the animal's cloven hoof set in the lower right hand corner of the grave.' Little does David realize that his life is to be bound up with this uncanny creature as well as a mysterious cairn on the summit plateau of Creag Meagaidh (a huge mountain on the opposite side of the loch). The answer to the mystery of the cairn lies in the far North-West Highlands, 'Where Black Wings Rest'. - - - - EXCERPT FROM BOOK. In the darkness of the forest, something moves - shadows amongst shadows; shadows with glimmering eyes. Slinking, skulking, silently running - grey phantoms in a ghostly wood. Tree boughs creaking, bending, wildly waving about the creeping enemies. Sprinting, stalking, stealthily rushing; powder spindrift shooting high beneath preternatural paws. Cutting, carving, curving snakelike, through snow-shrouded night-wastes - deadly hunters in a lonely wood. Pray that nothing be out tonight Yammering, yowling, wildly yawping, their chilling howls calling; summoning the cold, railing, tree-shredding north wind. Tracking, trailing, relentlessly tracing - a deadly pack, in pursuit of their prey - their ravening, demonic werewolf hearts beating ever as one. At the edge of the clearing, shady halting - triumphantly surveying their defenceless prey. For the House lies before them - dark without and dark within, as if trying to hide, veiled in curtains of swirling snow. Bounding, leaping, almost flying; these fierce, slavering creatures of the night, eagerly ploughing through the ever-deepening, drift-crawling snow - bearing the ravenous Terror. Three to the left, three to the right - perilous encroachment. "Are we all agreed? Is this where the fear is strongest?" "Yes - Yes - This is the place Fear dwells here - but something else too." "They are here, my Captain," growls one of the pack-members, his eyes glinting with silver light. "We are expected," said the Captain. "Do they think that mere barred doors will protect them?" A hand grips the trunk of a young Scots pine tree. "Come, my children " says the voice of a woman. "We must enter."

At the bidding of the mysterious MacLeod's Maidens, Andrew MacKenzie and his friends (known collectively as the Stormy Petrels) are making their way on foot from Mallaig on the west coast of the Scottish Mainland opposite Skye south to the wild mountain wilderness that lies between Rannoch Moor and Loch Etive in Argyll. There, they are to search for a particular holly tree where the Cailleach Bheur (the supernatural Winter-Hag) hid her storm hammer long ago. If they manage to find it, they are to take it to the Gulf of Corryvreckan between the islands of Scarba and Jura and drop it down the throat of the treacherous whirlpool of Corryvreckan during springtide on the flood in order to summon the Cailleach Bheur and her pack of tempestuous Storm Wolves. Only then will they stand a chance of defeating an occultic secret society called the Inner Circle, which is headed by the Muileartach (the Sea-Hag) and her coven of powerful witches. The way is fraught with many dangers Not only are they on the run from the police and the Inner Circle, but there are many forces of darkness which are determined to stop them in their tracks. The children must be trained to become fully fledged Storm-Riders before they can face the great battle that is looming. - - - - EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK: They noticed a group of great sea eagles flying overhead. The children were fascinated by their absolute mastery of flight. Sometimes soaring, somersaulting and darting through the air; sometimes, grabbing one another by the talons and spinning round and round together, faster and faster, like acrobatic skydivers. As Andrew watched them, he could not shake off the suspicion that in some way, these eagles were directing the growing chaos within the Gulf of Corryvreckan. Or was it just that these creatures were so exhilarated by the tempestuous, revolving waters of the whirlpool that they felt inspired to mimic its motion in the air? Even as he was pondering these things, the largest sea eagle swooped towards him. Thinking that the bird of prey intended to attack him, Andrew held up his paddle to fend it off. However, the bird landed lightly on the prow of his kayak and sat there with its back to him. It was a mature eagle; for its tail feathers were of a dazzling pure white. The magnificent bird turned its head and looked straight at the boy with its stern, yet rapturous yellow eyes. Not for nothing were these sea eagles referred to as Iolair Shuil na Greine, 'the Eagle of the Eye of the Sun'. Suddenly, it dawned on Andrew that his kayak was being pulled by a very powerful, localized current into the very jaws of the whirlpool. Try as he might, he could not extricate himself from its powerful grip. It was as if his kayak had been caught by invisible grappling hooks that were in the process of dragging him into the gaping maw of the whirlpool. Still the eagle sat unconcernedly on the prow of Andrew's kayak. Andrew's companions were deeply alarmed when they realized that he was in trouble. They cried after him, filled as they were with panic and concern for the life of their friend. Angus paddled his kayak towards the whirlpool in an attempt to help Andrew. The airborne eagles, however, saw this and proceeded to dive-bomb him, one after the other, screeching angrily. "Come back, Angus " yelled Robert. "You'll get killed Leave him alone, you brutes " Angus, however, could not hear a thing above the roar of the sea and the blast of the mounting gale.

Professor Douglas Sinclair, a particle physicist, is thrown into another world when his experimental dark energy facility on the Isle of Mull explodes. The blast generates ripples in the space-time continuum over the Scottish Highlands, which persist in the form of aftershocks. Several days later, Andrew MacKenzie (a boy who lives on the west coast of Scotland) is walking through a pine forest, when he is confronted by a wolf. Just then, a ripple in space-time passes through them, causing their minds to interact on a quantum level. They are amazed when they find that they can read each other's thoughts. Meanwhile, several cats have gone missing in the district. Andrew and his friends decide to investigate. They are shocked when they discover who is behind the disappearance of the cats and why. This is a thrilling fantasy adventure involving a desperate struggle between the children and a secret occult organization called the Inner Circle, and culminates in a mighty clash between ancient and deadly supernatural powers. - - - - EXCERPT FROM BOOK. 'All of a sudden, they heard a hissing noise in the chimney. Wheeling round, they saw a huge claw-like hand and long arm emerging from the fireplace. Grabbing hold of the Plaid, the hand proceeded to carry it up the chimney. With a great leap, Grey Wolf sank his teeth into the hand. A piercing scream of pain echoed down the chimney and the clawed hand's grip relaxed just enough to allow the Plaid to unroll. Nevertheless, the hand managed to maintain a firm grip on one end of the Plaid and started to drag it up the chimney. 'As soon as Andrew saw the unrolled Plaid, he grabbed hold of the free end and started to pull on it with all his might. Quickly, Grey Wolf struggled to his feet and ran to assist Andrew. Clamping his teeth into the fabric, he started to pull on it alongside his friend. So began a desperate tug-of-war. One minute, Andrew and the wolf would be dragged up the chimney; the next, they would manage to get sufficient purchase on the inner walls of the chimney breast to yank and drag the Plaid down the chimney and back into the room. Then, the clawed hand would give it another almighty pull, and they would be dragged up the chimney once again. Back and forth they went. Four times the Plaid got dragged up the chimney, and four times Andrew and the wolf dragged it back down again. 'Then, to their amazement, the Plaid turned jet black and was filled with tens of thousands of stars and galaxies. All the violent pulling had activated it '