Assistant Commissioner Hicks knew he was in for a bad morning: he had an appointment with the Commissioner and was running late. He nervously opens the office door. The Commissioner is on time - and is indisputably and spectacularly dead. An act of revenge? A terrorist plot? Or is it something to do with the death of a young revolutionary, the son of one of the Deputy Commissioners? Detective Chief Superintendent Owen Smith, Murder Squad, is a chancer known better for his perseverance than his diplomacy and he's determined to get to untangle the web of murder, deception and subversion.