1942. Hull, East Yorkshire, is the most heavily-bombed city outside of London - but for the sake of national morale the Hull Blitz is kept top secret. Only the politicians in Whitehall and Hull's citizens know of the true chaos.

Newly-posted Inspector Ambrose Swift can't believe the devastation. But for Swift and his deputies - Jim 'Little' Weighton and Kathleen Carver - it's murder, not war, that's at the forefront of their minds.

When a series of killings is blamed on locally-stationed black American GIs, Swift soon discovers that the fetid stench of racism, corruption and perversion goes to the very top. And for Swift, Weighton and Carver, finding the real killers means putting their own lives at risk. Powerful forces in the US and Britain cannot let the war effort be undermined - not even by the truth.