South Africa, 1953. The National Party's rigid race laws have split the nation and a gruelling poverty grips many on the edges of its society. When former Detective Sergeant Emmanuel Cooper stumbles across the body of a child, Jolly Marks, at the Durban docks, he can little imagine what the discovery will lead him to. Trying to resist his instinct to pursue the truth behind this terrible crime his life fell apart following his last investigation Cooper decides to leave this one to the proper authorities. But the trouble is, someone in the shadows has rather different ideas . Soon Cooper finds himself under suspicion for not only Jolly's murder, but others as well. The only way he can clear his name is to find out who the real killer was and he's got forty-eight hours to do it in. Assisted by his former boss, Van Nierkerk a man forever on the lookout for a way to advance his own cause and Van Nierkerk's beautiful, enigmatic mistress Lana, Cooper's investigations will lead him into Durban's murky underworld of pimps, prostitutes, strange, sinister preachers, and those on the wrong side of the race laws.

He will discover new enemies and be reunited with old friends. And before long, Cooper will find that there is more to Jolly's barbaric murder than he could ever have realized .