5 October, 1982. It's been one of the worst days of Detective Sergeant Jack Frost's life. He has buried his wife Mary, and must now endure the wake, attended by all of Denton's finest. All, that is, apart from DC Sue Clark, who spends the night pursuing a bogus tip-off, before being summoned to the discovery of a human hand. And things get worst. Local entrepreneur Harry Baskin is shot outside his club, and off-licence is set on fire and a famous...

Detective Inspector Jack Frost, officially on duty, is nevertheless determined to sneak off to a colleague's leaving party. But first the corpse of a local junkie is found in a public lavatory, and when Frost tries to join the revels later on, the daughter of a wealthy businessman goes missing.

A serial killer is terrorizing the senior citizens of Denton, and the local police are succumbing to a 'flu epidemic. In uncertain charge of the investigations is Detective Inspector Jack Frost, crumpled, slapdash, and foul-mouthed as ever. Trying to cope despite inadequate backup, but there is never enough time; the unsolved crimes pile up and the vicious killings go on.