Wrong place. Wrong time. A boy on the run. THE MARKET'S ON FIRE. FIRE! FIRE! THE BOY DID IT! Smoke belches out through the market entrance. And me? I turn and run. Inverness 1889. When 12-year-old Phin is accused of a terrible crime, his only option is to flee.

In the unlikely company of an escaped prisoner and a group of travelling entertainers, he enters a new world of Punch and Judy shows and dancing bears. But will Phin clear his name?And what can he do when memories of a darker, more terrible crime begin to haunt him?