A skinny young boy is found dead--his body carelessly stuffed into a wheelie bin. Detective Superintendent Alan Banks and his team are called to investigate. Who is the boy, and where did he come from? Was his body discarded, or left as a warning to someone? He looks Middle Eastern, but no one on the Eastvale Estate has seen him before. As the local press seize upon an illegal immigrant angle, and the national media cover the story of another stabbing, there is a less newsworthy death: a middle-aged heroin addict found dead of an overdose in another estate, scheduled for redevelopment. Banks finds the threads of each case seem to be connected to the other, and to the dark side of organized crime in Eastvale. Does another thread link to his friend Zelda, who is coming to terms with her own dark past? The truth may be more complex--or much simpler--than it seems...