Following the murder of his wife by notorious gangster Joe Webster in 1964, Inspector George Gently is pondering retirement. When he hears about Webster attending a funeral of a murder victim in Northumberland, he delays his retirement to take on this one last case.

After an unidentified badly burnt body is found near an RAF base in 1964, Gently works alongside Special Branch officers who suspect the victim was involved with the IRA.

When the beaten body of wealthy German businessman Gunter Schmeikel is discovered in the harbour, Gently and Bacchus are forced to consider whether a barman's anti-German sentiments are a motive for murder.

Investigating the murder of an old man in his dilapidated mansion, Gently and Bacchus discover a world which is beyond their comprehension.

Gently and Bacchus investigate the murder of a young woman whose body is found in a local church. They discover that the girl was a 'Fox', a waitress working at the first hostess club in Newcastle.

When a young woman is raped and murdered, Gently and Bacchus are thrown into a world of racial intolerance, sexual jealousy, and turf warfare.