The Drumbeater
by Clive Allan
"Something caught his eye, as if the sun was reflecting on something shiny. The source of this momentary distraction was the clouded glass face of an old wristwatch. He bent down to retrieve it, then recoiled abruptly, standing bolt upright. The watch, complete with decaying leather strap was secured to the wrist of a skeletal hand."
When human remains are found buried on a beach near the remote Scottish village of Glendaig, the evidence points to murder, to a crime dating back seventy years to World War Two. The task of unravelling the mystery falls to history graduate Neil Strachan, now a career cop, fast tracked into a new role in Northern Scotland's Major Enquiry Unit. When Neil calls upon German naval historian, Matthias Fuchs, to help identify the remains, a name soon emerges, that of a dashing young U-Boat ace who mysteriously disappeared in 1941: Korvettenkapitan Max Friedman.
Neil seeks the assistance of Glendaig's elderly residents, but encounters an impenetrable wall of silence, causing him to suspect that they know far more about the young submariner that they are willing to impart. With more questions than answers, and under mounting pressure from his cynical boss to wrap up the enquiry, neil embarks on a race against time to discover the truth.
He begins to unravel a tale of subterfuge, escape and astounding loyalty. A tale that will ultimately reveal a secret that could have changed the courese of World War Two...
When human remains are found buried on a beach near the remote Scottish village of Glendaig, the evidence points to murder, to a crime dating back seventy years to World War Two. The task of unravelling the mystery falls to history graduate Neil Strachan, now a career cop, fast tracked into a new role in Northern Scotland's Major Enquiry Unit. When Neil calls upon German naval historian, Matthias Fuchs, to help identify the remains, a name soon emerges, that of a dashing young U-Boat ace who mysteriously disappeared in 1941: Korvettenkapitan Max Friedman.
Neil seeks the assistance of Glendaig's elderly residents, but encounters an impenetrable wall of silence, causing him to suspect that they know far more about the young submariner that they are willing to impart. With more questions than answers, and under mounting pressure from his cynical boss to wrap up the enquiry, neil embarks on a race against time to discover the truth.
He begins to unravel a tale of subterfuge, escape and astounding loyalty. A tale that will ultimately reveal a secret that could have changed the courese of World War Two...
