Blood hunt - Neil Gunn

After a lifetime at sea, old Sandy returns to the land of his fathers to live out his remaining years in the peaceful isolation of a Highland croft. His companions are his dog Queenie, a temperamental cow Nancy, a few hens and his precious books. He befriends the local village boys who come to trust him. When one of these boys, Allan, seeks his helps after killing the man who has seduced his girlfriend, Sandy takes his side, warding off suspicious enquiries from the village policeman, the dead man's brother. Allan's girlfriend also comes to seek refuge with Sandy and eventually gives birth to her baby there. A moving and satisfying blend of tragedy and comedy, "Blood Hunt" has a powerful message - the triumph of love over anger and of the unending renewal of nature. It is a masterly novel by a writer in full maturity. It was Gunn's second last novel and one of his most masterly.