In the bleaker precincts of Glasgow, Maureen O'Donnell is confronted with another grisly case of murder The last time Maureen saw Ann Harris she was nursing a couple of broken ribs and reeking of alcohol at the women's shelter Now Ann has turned up dead hundreds of miles away under a mattress on the banks of the Thames Eager to escape some family difficulties of her own, Maureen travels to London to determine the circumstances of Ann's brutal death