1942. HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE - It is the most heavily bombed city outside of London, but for the sake of national morale the Hull Blitz is kept top secret.

Newly posted Detective Chief Inspector Ambrose Swift cannot believe the devastation he finds. But for Swift and his deputies - Sergeant Jim 'Little' Weighton and Women's Police Auxiliary Kathleen Carver - it's murder, not the war, that looms large.

When a series of sadistic killings is blamed on locally-stationed American GIs, Swift soon discovers not all is what it seems. The stench of racism and corruption goes to the very top.

But finding the real killer will prove just as dangerous as the falling bombs. Because powerful forces cannot let the war effort be undermined - not even by the truth . . .