The third gripping instalment in an exciting new generation of Pitt novels, from the New York Times bestselling author and queen of Victorian crime, Anne Perry. It is 1910 and a warehouse fire on the banks of the Thames has left one criminal dead and another charged with his murder. Convinced of his innocence, Jessie Beale begs barrister Daniel Pitt to defend the accused. It's a hopeless case - unless Daniel can find an expert witness, whose testimony on fire damage is so utterly convincing that any jury would believe him. Daniel's friend Miriam fford Croft was taught by formidable forensic scientist Sir Barnabas Saltram, who has built his reputation on giving evidence of this kind. But when Saltram agrees to testify, thus saving an innocent man from the gallows, Daniel unwittingly starts a chain of events that has devastating consequences for all of them...

Scottish politics is in stalemate. A growing sense of disquiet with Westminster rule is frustrated as no permission is granted by London for a second referendum on Scottish Independence. One man decides to take action and disables a military convoy taking nuclear warheads south from Scotland in order that they can undergo maintenance. His success prompts more acts of civil disobedience and before long he has become a cause celebre. The security services are ordered to find and dispose of the man they call 'Dalriada'. Scotland rises in support as his acts become more audacious.