The troubled head of the Detective Branch returns, in an intriguing case of kidnap, rebellion and murder...

The body of a vagrant is discovered in a ditch in County Tipperary. Knox, a young Irish policeman with divided loyalties is told that the landowner wants the case dealt with swiftly and quietly. However, when Knox examines the corpse, he realises that this supposed vagrant was wearing a Savile Row suit . . .

Three months earlier, Detective Inspector Pyke was investigating a kidnapping in Wales. The crime seems to be linked to a group of rebels, but Pyke soon suspects the case is not as clear cut as it seems.

What are the links between the rebellion in Wales and the unrest in Ireland - and has Pyke finally bitten off more than he can chew?