Leon Ajikawo

Rising star Sergeant Sam Honeywell is found beaten and shot in his burnt-out car in Essex. The police are up in arms in what is a hugely emotive and political case for them, and DCI Jim Sullivan is determined to nail Honeywell’s killer. When a local drug dealer and son of known crime boss Dean Fallon seems to have his alibi sewn up, suspicion shifts closer to home. Honeywell is discovered to have been in an affair with Kate Parry, wife of his best friend, Sergeant Carl Parry. It looks bad for Parry, and Jack reveals details of Honeywell’s final moments, which hits Sullivan hard.

Known Essex criminal Jason Simons is found murdered in a way that is perhaps too similar to Honeywell to be a coincidence. As anomalies in his post-mortem stack up, the team discover that Simons was not what he seemed. Traces of drugs on Simons’s penknife point them towards a major drugs importation, but his bereaved girlfriend Tess claims to know nothing about it. Suspicion turns back to Dean Fallon, but a discovery in his medical records and the death of the Fallon family lawyer Ben Osrin takes the investigation in an unexpected new direction.