"A brilliant combination of almost Jacobean savagery and sexual betrayal with a tart comedy of contemporary manners." ―John Harvey, The Guardian. For years Colin Harpur's dubious boss, Assistant Chief Constable Desmond Iles, ran a questionable but practical arrangement with Mansel Shale and Panicking Ralph Ember, owner of the Monty Iles would protect their businesses if they ensured peace on the streets. But the arrangement fails when violence erupts. After a small-time criminal's house is firebombed, leaving the owner and his daughter dead, mistrust and uncertainty pervade the formerly well-managed more drug dealers emerge and competition grows. With the failure of a once mutually beneficial relationship between cops and criminals, a battle for survival ensues. Bill James is a pointripe with humor, fast dialogue, and incisive wit, he offers entrance into the shocking and fascinating underbelly of a city and its inherent mysteries.