On his way back from ongoing investigation into an apparent serial killer in Scotland, forensics anthropologist David Hunter is asked if he could examine a fire-death on the remote Hebridean island of Runa - reported by Brody, a retired DI who lives on the island. The journey over to Runa is delayed by rough seas and it's dark by the time Hunter and the two mainland police officers and a reporter accompanying him arrive. Warned that it will be unlike anything else that he has encountered, Hunter and the police go straight to the body. And it is indeed unusual: almost totally incinerated except for one hand and both feet, which have been left untouched by the fire. And nothing else appears to have been affected by the fire. It appears to be a textbook case of the phenomenon known as spontaneous human combustion.
On his way back from ongoing investigation into an apparent serial killer in Scotland, forensics anthropologist David Hunter is asked if he could examine a fire-death on the remote Hebridean island of Runa - reported by Brody, a retired DI who lives on the island. The journey over to Runa is delayed by rough seas and it's dark by the time Hunter and the two mainland police officers and a reporter accompanying him arrive. Warned that it will be unlike anything else that he has encountered, Hunter and the police go straight to the body. And it is indeed unusual: almost totally incinerated except for one hand and both feet, which have been left untouched by the fire. And nothing else appears to have been affected by the fire. It appears to be a textbook case of the phenomenon known as spontaneous human combustion.