Following a fire in a terraced house, the body of a prominent lawyer, Charles Chamberlain, is found naked and shackled to a bed frame. Six weeks earlier, DI Colin Strong is investigating the sudden death of a transsexual, left undiscovered in the bath for over a year. Initially, it appears to be a tragic death but one mysterious item, a card for the Talisman Club, is found in the bedroom. Meanwhile, Bob Souter, journalist and close friend of DI Strong, is probing connections between a developer and the council leader in respect of a controversial project when massive European funding is announced. Souter smells a rat and delves further into the scheme. Is there a link between the bodies and the business deal? Will Souter or DI Strong crack the case first? And what exactly is the Talisman Club? In the third instalment of the Wakefield series, the two men must work together to bring the guilty to justice before time runs out.