FEBRUARY 1942: The Struma, a broken-down steamer, explodes and sinks in the Black Sea, drowning 768 Rumanian Jews fleeing the Nazis and heading for Palestine, and safety. JUNE 1944: Thirty-one SAS soldiers are captured behind enemy lines and are forced to dig their own graves before being shot and buried in a forest in the heart of France. SEVENTY YEARS LATER: A young woman is attacked in the grounds of Edinburgh Zoo - the attacker seeking the document that might link these two wartime events. Private Investigator Sam Dyke becomes involved in unravelling a mystery that dates back to the Second World War. He rescues a woman who's on the point of being abducted and, for all he knows, murdered. He helps the woman, Chantal Bressette, escape, subsequently learning that she's carrying a document of vital importance to a group of powerful people. Sam Dyke discovers he's the only one who can stop them. Based on true events, and with action ranging from Edinburgh through to a quiet village in the centre of France, The Hard Swim pits Sam Dyke against his toughest opponents yet--an experienced team of killers backed by a ruthless MP about to ascend to one of the great roles of State.