Vine is the recipient of three Edgars and four Gold Dagger Awards.

    Yet World War I and the changes that follow seem to mock the emotions and experiences of her youth.

    Initially sceptical, Hannay nonetheless harbours the man—but one day returns home to find him murdered... An obvious suspect, Hannay flees to his native Scotland, pursued by both the police and a cunning, ruthless enemy. His life and the security of Britain are in grave peril, and everything rests on the solution to a baffling enigma: what are the 'thirty nine steps?'