Detective Rutherford Barnes

On a wild and stormy night on England’s south coast, ambitious young police constables Rutherford Barnes and Harriet Holden are doing the rounds when they see a burglar fleeing the scene of the crime. And the location is Harriet’s house. The ground floor is ransacked. Scrawled in red across one wall are the words: DEAD COPS SLEEP LONG. Then a few days later, Harriet’s battered body is discovered in a shabby seafront hotel. Newly promoted to detective, Barnes vows to discover who killed his partner, and why.

DC Barnes is back on the job after an eighteen-month suspension. He’s offered this case no one else wants—and he’s in no position to refuse. A one-punch homicide. The accused is Mandy’s partner James. An honest, upright citizen and a firefighter. The victim is Mandy’s ex, an aggressive alcoholic. James’s acquittal is a sure thing. No jury will convict this good man defending his girlfriend.

For five long years, Detective Barnes has been hunting the killer of the person he cared about the most. Now, the one man who could have revealed the truth is dead. His charred and blackened body is all that remains in his burnt-out flat. A week later, a desperate, emaciated young woman hammers on the door of a late-night convenience store. She speaks no English—but it’s clear that she’s terrified—and running for her life. It's only Barnes who connects the two events. He and his new boss, Superintendent Samson Kane, team up to uncover the truth.