Still recovering from the harrowing case that ended his police career Doug Michie returns to his boyhood home of Ayr on Scotland's wind-scarred west coast. He hopes to rebuild his shattered life get over the recent failure of his marriage & shed his demons but the years have changed the birthplace of the poet Robert Burns. When Doug meets his old school-day flame Lyn however he feels his past may offer the salvation of a future. But Lyn's son has been accused of murder & she begs Doug to find the truth. Soon Doug is tangled in a complicated web of corrupt politicians frightened journalists & a police force in cahoots with criminals. Only Burns' philosophical musings offer Doug some shelter as he wanders the streets of Auld Ayr battling The Storm Without.