Plot Summary:DCI Jericho is a brilliant detective and a darling of the media. However, he is haunted by the memories of his father, a policeman whose murder Jericho witnessed as a boy. Never married, and alone since his childhood sweetheart left him for another during WWII, Jericho is obsessed with his work at Scotland Yard. Yet, he finds himself drawn to his beautiful French neighbor Juliette - a prostitute with a tortured past. Set amidst the social upheaval of post-war 1950s London, Jericho unravels headline-grabbing mysteries. His diligent team includes faithful friend and colleague Detective Sergeant Clive Harvey and the ambitious young Detective Constable John Caldicott, whose warm relationship with his fiancÈe starkly contrasts Jericho's lonely nighttime vigils.
Jericho investigates the brutal murder of a young Jamaican in Notting Hill, and soon identifies it as a racial killing - but his work is interrupted when a wealthy businessman is kidnapped. But all is not as it seems - Sir Nicholas Wellesley has not been staying at his club or visiting his usual haunts.