Sussex, 1780. Anatomist and recluse Gabriel Crowther is reluctantly drawn into the lives of local high society when a dead body is found by impulsive, frustrated Harriet Westerman.

Germany, 1784. Daniel Clode cannot say whether or not he killed the woman. But what of the madness he feels, and how did she drown on dry land? Harriet Westerman knows Daniel is not a murderer; her sister would not have married such a man. She and the reclusive Gabriel Crowther must travel to save him from the axeman's steel.

London, 1785. When the body of a West Indies planter is found pegged out in the grounds of St Paul's, suspicion falls on one of the victim's former slaves, who was found with his watch on the London streets. As Harriet and Crowther begin investigate, however, they find the answer is not that simple. Together, they negotiate the interests of the British government, the secrets of the plantation owners, and a network of alliances stretching across the Atlantic. And they must confront the uncomfortable truth that some people are willing to do great evil when they believe their cause to be just.

The landmark, headline-making debut novel from Tom Watson, former Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, and bestselling novelist Imogen Robertson is the must-read political thriller of the 21st century.