The killing was an expert hit, three shots through the head as the lights dimmed at a concert in Glasgow. Edinburgh Chief Constable Bob Skinner is right in the center of the storm as it breaks over the Strathclyde force. The shooters are dead, killed at the scene. But who sent them? The crisis finds Skinner, his private life shattered by the shocking end of his marriage, taking a step that he had sworn he never would. Tasked by Scotland's First Minister with the investigation of the outrage, he quickly uncovers some very murky deeds. The trail leads to London, where Skinner has to rattle the bars of the most formidable cage in the country, and go head to head with its leading power brokers. Can the Chief solve the most challenging mystery of his career, or will failure end it?