Still recovering from a near-fatal bomb blast, Superintendent Andy Dalziel is eager to get back up to speed—and loses an entire day in the process.

Agreeing to help Gina Wolfe search for her missing husband—a policeman who vanished years earlier under a very dark cloud—"Fat Andy" doesn't realize that events set in motion decades ago will come to a violent head on this otherwise ordinary summer's day. Caught up in an intricate composition played up-tempo by a vicious gangster and his politician son; a tabloid journalist chasing the deadliest story of his career; and a desperate wife/widow/fiancÉe unaware of the target on her forehead, Dalziel has only twenty-four hours to pursue this twisting piece to its shocking, discordant conclusion—hoping that justice will not be among the ultimate victims.