Detective Superintendent Jack Hawksworth of Scotland Yard has headed up three major serial operations and in each of these cases it seems he has lost a part of himself. He is burnt out and taken a shift sideways for a while, taking on a low-profile role of desk investigator out of London that’s looking into whether a global crime scam exists.

But when a number of young women start returning home ill and dying after travels in Europe, Jack uncovers a shocking black-market operation, with links that lead him all the way to a crime syndicate in South Australia ...