Alistair Duncan is nearly killed and it's unclear this is an accident or deliberate attempt on his life. He returns from hospital to find his girlfriend has thrown him out and he takes refuge with Jon, a War Gaming loner with perceptive insight into people. Ally's ex-wife goes missing and he is framed for her murder by a struggling painter with no talent who is having an affair with both Ally's girlfriend and ex-wife. Meanwhile an Asian policeman suffering from a terminal condition and his female partner get caught up in these people lives which reaches a murderous conclusion.
A Slow Fall is a literary fiction novel. There are ambiguous and unfulfilled relationships between the characters and all to a greater or lesser extent are living in a society they cannot fully participate in. The major themes are of being displaced and marginalised, of racism and the mediocrity of those included.