Skeletons are discovered in a wasteland behind Cockpit Lane, a poor and largely black area of inner south London. DCI David Brock and DS Kathy Kolla of Scotland Yard's Serious Crime Branch are called in to investigate. The discovery that the victims died during the Brixton riots over 20 years ago leads Brock and Kolla on a dark and dangerous journey in which past and present come together in an intricate web of deception and intrigue.