Michael Gardiner, who has lived in Coldhaven all his life but feels like an outsider. As a teenager, he had a brief romance with Moira Birnie.
Moira Birnie who kills herself and her two sons by setting their car on fire, sparing only her 14-year-old daughter Hazel.

The story is set in the fictional coastal town of Coldhaven, Scotland. It opens with Moira Birnie killing herself and her two sons by setting their car on fire, seemingly driven by the belief that her abusive husband is the devil incarnate.
The narrator is Michael Gardiner, who has lived in Coldhaven his whole life but feels like an outsider. He once had a romantic relationship with Moira and suspects that her surviving 14-year-old daughter Hazel may actually be his child. Obsessed with Hazel, Michael abandons his failing marriage to go on the run with her, allowing an inappropriate sexual tension to develop between them.
The novel explores the dichotomy of good and evil coexisting, with glimpses of a "terrifying wildness" lurking beneath the surface of ordinary life. It is inspired by a local myth about the devil passing through Coldhaven one snowy night, leaving cloven footprints.
With poetic prose and vivid imagery, Burnside crafts a haunting, folkloric tale that lingers in the mind like "hoofprints in freshly fallen snow." The novel's ambiguous ending leaves it open whether the devil's path led to another realm or if evil resides within mankind itself.

Repressed Desires and the Uncanny
The narrator Michael Gardiner is haunted by repressed desires and an eerie "double" or doppelganger that represents his hidden, sinister impulses. Burnside vividly depicts the uncanny feeling of having a separate, private self that remains untold.

Trauma and Violence vThe novel deals with traumatic events like the disturbing death of a young girl left on the roadside, as well as murders and a mother burning herself and her children alive. There is a pervasive sense of violence simmering beneath the surface.

Small Town Secrets
Set in the insular coastal town of Coldhaven, the novel delves into the underbelly of small-town life, where everyone has private stories and dark secrets that eventually come to light.

The Allure of the Unknown
Michael is drawn to explore the unknown and the erotic, venturing on a journey that takes him away from his marriage and ordinary life. Burnside evokes a fascination with empty spaces, botched deaths, and the possibility of leading a separate, hidden existence.

In summary, "The Devil's Footprints" is a gripping, unsettling work that probes the darker undercurrents of human psychology and desire through vivid prose and an engrossing, gothic-tinged plot.