Detective Inspector Max Arnold lives on a battered houseboat at the end of Cheyne Walk after separating from his art dealer wife Astrid. The son of a local bookshop owner, Max is a far cry from the affluent elite whose crimes he'll help solve along with D.C. Priya Shamsie.

England, 1969. The fascinating Abbie and the troubled Lydia are great friends. After an unexpected tragedy occurs in the strict girls' school they attend, a mysterious epidemic of fainting breaks out that threatens the mental sanity and beliefs of the tormented people involved, both teachers and students.

A sharp detective with a messy life, DCI Vera Stanhope patrols her “patch” of northeast England, pursuing the truth in cases of murder, kidnapping, and blackmail. Vera is obsessive about her work and faces the world with caustic wit, guile and courage.