Crieff is a town in Perthshire, Scotland. It is one of the few locations we knew would be in the book prior to publication; it was one of J.K. Rowling’s Twitter/X header photos.
Strike discovers from an article that Niall Semple disappeared from his family home in Crieff on the twenty-seventh of May, days after his mother’s funeral.
Eventually, Strike manages to persuade Niall’s wife, Jade Semple, to talk to him in person. Strike books for himself and Robin to make the trip to Crieff together and drive back via the Lake District and Ironbridge. Robin decides not to go, however.
Strike travels to Crieff alone, taking the sleeper train to Glasgow Central and hiring a car to get to Crieff. He drinks too much Johnnie Walker Black Label whisky on the train and is very hungover the following day. “… he drove in a constant uncertainty as to whether he ought to stop the car again to throw up.” (Chapter 59)
Strike parks his car, but what he hadn’t noticed was that Comrie Road was a steep incline. “… inwardly cursing the weather, the hill and his own whisky consumption, he set off up the street, passing small shops set in Victorian buildings of stained stone” (Chapter 59). Pat calls him to tell him she may have found Hussein Mohamed.
As Strike puts his phone back in his pocket he turns his face upwards to allow rain to fall onto his face, hoping it will make him feel less ill. “A familiar symbol caught his eye, directly overhead: the iron square and compasses, protruding discreetly over the nondescript blue door outside which he was sheltering” (Chapter 59). He moves back onto the pavement and contemplates the masonic lodge, which is “no larger than a two-up, two-down house” (Chapter 59).
“The Semples’ house was large, square, detached and made of grey stone, with a well-tended front garden.” This is where Niall Semple grew up.
Jade Semple tells Strike “We’ll go up MacRosty Park” to take the dog Pom Pom for a walk. “To Strike’s relief, they entered the park via a smooth, tarmacked path. It was still raining hard …” Jade eventually tells Strike “We’ll go this way” and leads them across the grass.
“They were under the canopy of trees now. Strike would have been more grateful for respite from the rain if the ground hadn’t been muddy.”
“His false leg skidded out from under him; for a moment he was entirely airborne, then he fell with a crash on his back into a patch of mud. The Pomeranian set up a volley of yapping, as though Strike’s yell of pain had been an invitation to fight.” (Chapter 59). They walk slowly back to Jade’s house.