Inspector Gently is intrigued as to why a woman has tragically committed suicide. There are too many details that don't add up, and he suspects murder. Why did this woman, a GP, want to end her life? Gently's investigation leads him and his team to the discovery of a bigger industrial crime, more murders and more victims. Gently puts his career on the line to uncover who is really to blame.

It's 1969, and on Christmas Eve Gently is enjoying the festive cheer, until he gets news. A bank has been hit, and there's work to be done. Gently's hunt for the gunmen takes him into the world of skinheads. Gently has little fear, but the world is changing around him.

Gently is later faced with a difficult dilemma. Does the law always have to be so cruel? Can he bend it just this once?