On a summer night, an attractive woman hurtles north in a blue Peugeot with an address in her pocket, while, back in London, a desperate man leaves a late-night phone message on his brother's answering machine. By sunrise, the woman is found in her car, shot, execution-style, through the head. Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot arrives on the scene and discovers a slip of paper in the dead woman's pocket that bears the name of her colleague and erstwhile lover, Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks. Banks, meanwhile--withdrawn after nearly dying in the fire that destroyed his home--has gone missing just when he's needed most, and has left plenty of questions behind. As Annie struggles to determine if Banks is safe--and what role he may have played in the woman's murder--Banks himself investigates the mysterious disappearance of his estranged brother, Roy.