Chief Inspector Jacobson is starting to wish he'd stayed on holiday. The Crowby Crawler, a notorious serial rapist, is back on the streets with a mob of baying vigilantes at his heels. It's almost a relief - professionally, at least - when he's assigned what appears to be an open and shut murder case.

 

Bored, adulterous Jenny Mortimer lies dead on the driveway and her jealous, domineering husband Gus hasn't the shred of an alibi. Even when DS Kerr casts doubt on the simplicity of the case, Jacobson isn't overly concerned. If Gus hasn't done it, Jacobson has his eye on another suspect just as close to home: Jenny's youthful, bohemian lover, Kevin Holland.

 

But as the summer heatwave continues and Jacobson's stress levels soar, things that he could really do without start to happen. Things like the Crawler evading police surveillance. And discoveries about Gus Mortimer turn the investigation of his wife's murder into Jacobson's darkest, most complex case yet ...