A TEENAGE BOY IS FOUND MURDERED. HE HAS BEEN STABBED THROUGH THE HEART BY A PROFESSIONAL KILLER. Detective Stephen Greco and his new team discover that the boy is an illegal immigrant. A killer nicknamed “the Knifeman” then strikes again. The murders lead DCI Greco on a dark trail of people smuggling and exploitation. DCI Greco must quickly get his new team to gel, but he is still recovering from a terrible personal tragedy, and his relationship with DS Grace Harper threatens to turn very unprofessional. And how is arch-villain and drugs baron Vinny Costello involved? What is his connection to a private clinic specialising in plastic surgery for the city's elite. This gripping and fast-paced mystery ends with a shocking revelation and an action-packed edge-of-your-seat confrontation. b>THE DETECTIVES DCI Stephen Greco is a meticulous policeman with a touch of O.C.D. Easy to admire, but difficult to like. He has created a new team after a personal tragedy threatened to end his career, and is struggling to care for his daughter. DS Grace Harper is an ambitious young policewoman with excellent people skills. Like Greco, she is a single parent and tries to balance work and childcare. THE SETTING The Northern city of Manchester is a place of great diversity, from high-end restaurants and clubs for the moneyed classes to grim housing estates riven by crime and drugs.