It is eighteen months since the Midland Hotel burned to the ground. Now the 24 Hour Jazz Cafe stands in its place. Owner Mitch Johnson is missing, leaving his oldest friend and business partner Rupert Watts to run their new venture. A woman's purse is found by children playing on the beach. Then a man is brutally murdered in his bathroom. Newly promoted DS Jane Harper must connect the pieces to find a killer. But when Harper learns that the purse belonged to the wife of the murdered man, and that the missing woman has run away with Mitch, Harper begins to wonder if her consulting detective might actually be the prime suspect. This thrilling sequel to The 24 Hour Jazz Café pushes Mitch and Rupert to their very limits as they are exposed to a case far wider reaching than anything they have faced previously. Even detective Harper, usually in total control, is floundering as the clues lead nowhere and mistakes are made. In the end, with Rupert in danger and a lack of options, it is Mitch who is willing to risk everything to see justice done.