No one will testify at the trial, so the old process of justice doesn't work any more--"the detective is dead"--and the police have to rely on darker, more devious methods. The story opens as the three murderers of drug baron Kenward Knapp assemble at Ralph Ember's notorious club "The Monty" to celebrate their acquittal. The key player behind the scenes is ambitious drug dealer Keith Vine, now an informant for Chief Detective Superintendent Colin Harpur. Vine's partners have been murdered and his life is in danger. Harpur wants to send him (and his smart, beautiful, and very pregnant girlfriend, Becky) safely abroad, while the coldly plotting ACC Desmond Iles wants to keep him here, to serve as bait for the killers. Part pawn, part murderous player himself, reaching hungrily for the lucrative Knapp domain now up for grabs, Vine disappears into a labyrinth of fear and greed, twisting through schemes and alliances from which he will be lucky to emerge alive.