The first in a new series by debut author Mark Lock, for fans of Mo Hayder, Belinda Bauer and Mark Billingham.

Detective Inspector Hal Luchewski's life is complicated. The stress of his job is getting to him – usually in the form of hard liquor. He's still living in his dead father's shadow, his relationship with his daughter is strained, and his love life is complex to say the least...although nearly 40, Hal's still reconciling himself to the fact he's gay...

When teenager Danny Wiseman's butchered body is found in a squalid bedsit in South London, Hal and his team think they have a psychopath on the loose. When a second body is found – that of an ex-guard at Granton Young Offender Institution – Hal fears the worst. Is it a coincidence that Wiseman recently spent time at Granton, a place which has become a byword for corruption and scandal? Is Hal up against a former inmate's wrath, or something even more sinister? Soon enough, the case gets personal – and in more ways than one...