DC Winter has gone undercover in an attempt to infiltrate the inner circle of the city's premier drug lord. Isolated from his colleagues, resenting the way his superiors have presented him the job as a fait accompli, and abroad in a world where money is easy and respect is earned in brutally straightforward ways, Winter is in his element—worryingly so. Concerns among his superiors that Winter may finally have had too much temptation put in his path are soon supplanted by two vicious murders. First a high-profile local property developer is shot, with clinical efficiency, in his own bed. A few days later a government minister is assassinated while his car is stuck in a traffic jam. A fevered investigation begins with Winter's erstwhile boss, detective inspector Faraday, in charge. With clues hard to come by, the government panicking, and the anti-terrorist branch circling, Faraday is shoved off the case and left in charge just of the investigation into the property developer's murder. Faraday is also tasked with keeping track of Winter and soon discovers that Winter, the arch-conspirator, has been set up.