Bombs explode during an anarchist attack in Long Spoon Lane, leaving suspects dead or captured and raising the possibility that someone inside the police deliberately silenced the group’s leader. Thomas Pitt is drawn into an inquiry in which public fear of terrorism can justify almost any expansion of official power.
As Parliament considers stronger policing laws, Pitt and Charlotte trace links between radicals, corrupt officers and men who profit from disorder. The mystery asks whether the apparent enemy of the state is less dangerous than those prepared to manufacture violence in order to control it.