The Edinburgh Cold Cases: In the Shadow of the Old Town

Not all disappearances announce themselves.

Some unfold quietly, shaped not by dramatic events but by routine, assumption, and time passing without interruption. This book examines three real missing‑person cases to explore how absence is recognised, how delay alters understanding, and how investigation is framed by the moment concern finally consolidates.

Rather than seeking resolution, the book focuses on beginnings — especially those that do not declare themselves as such. It considers how ordinary autonomy allows absence to persist unnoticed, how records grow after recognition has already arrived too late, and how investigation is constrained by what has already slipped beyond reach.

Working close to home, the author approaches these cases with restraint and proportionality, avoiding speculation in favour of structure, timing, and documented response. The result is a study not of mystery as spectacle, but of disappearance as a procedural and human reality.

This is not a book about answers.

It is a book about how absence takes shape — quietly, gradually, and with lasting consequence.