Set in the fictional Argyll town of Gallanach, the real village of Lochgair and in Glasgow where Prentice McHoan lives. Prentice's uncle Rory has disappeared eight years previously while writing a book called The Crow Road. Prentice becomes obsessed with papers his uncle left behind and sets out to solve the mystery. Along the way he must cope with estrangement from his father, unrequited love, sibling rivalry and failure at his studies.

The estrangement from his father concerns belief in God or an afterlife. Prentice cannot accept a universe without some higher power, some purpose; he can't believe that people can just cease to exist when they die. His father dogmatically denies the existence of God, universal purpose and the afterlife.

A parallel plot is Prentice's gradual transition from an adolescent fixation on one young woman to a more mature love for another.

Prentice's efforts to piece together Uncle Rory's fragmentary notes and the minimal clues surrounding his disappearance mirror his efforts to make sense of the world, love and life in general.