The plan is that we will stage a fake murder investigation...". The top secret directive to Detective Superintendent Mark Pemberton, quick-tempered high-flier in a northern county's CID, came from the Chief Constable himself. The idea was to get local villains on the run, obtain their admissions and confessions, clear up lots of minor crimes, secure a wealth of valuable information about the criminal world and, primarily, to flush out any threat of violence during the forthcoming visit by the Prime Minister.. An anonymous, naked female corpse - her remains bequeathed for the benefit of the nation - is planted by the police in Green Lane. But at almost the same time, the body of a popular, good-time barmaid is discovered in the Blue Beck with a massive shotgun wound.. Mark Pemberton now has more on his plate than he or his Chief Constable bargained for. And the townspeople are terrified: Is this the work of a maniac, a rapist, a sex-killer? And is there a link between the slaying of the two women? Besides a handful of murder suspects and a major drugs dealer behind bars on a different rap, the threat of an IRA mainland bombing blitz also keeps Pemberton and his Detective Constable lover, Amanda, at fever pitch. And hours before the PM's visit, Amanda disappears...
