When an entire family of Hasidic Jews dies suddenly while picnicking in Finsbury Park, local news reporter Rex Tracey is almost thankful - finally he has something to write about apart from dog-fouling hotspots and diverted bus routes. Then his long-time colleague and friend Terry is accused of murder, and Rex is catapulted out of his Polish beer-soaked comfort zone into a disturbing world of religious bigotry, hatred and fear.
When a Kurdish activist plunges in flames from the top floor of Shopping City, it's assumed to be a political protest. But local reporter Rex Tracey, who knew the dead girl, thinks there's more to the story. Activist she was, but she was also looking forward to the trip of a lifetime, she'd disappeared a week before her final gesture, and she'd been in touch with a whistle-blowing local government officer, who pretty soon ends up dead herself.
Reporter Rex Tracey has just recovered from his affair with Lithuanian artist Milda Majauskas when she disappears. He's got other concerns, not least an anti-immigration group spreading hate across Tottenham, and a string of attacks on young women at the local beauty spot, Alexandra Palace. But when Milda's body is found, and Rex becomes a murder suspect, he is forced to seek answers.