December, 1940. The season of goodwill is overshadowed by the death and destruction of the Blitz. In London's Covent Garden, where the glamour of theatreland rubs shoulders with the capital's busiest fruit and vegetable market, the war has closed the theatres and ruined the market trade.

When a daylight air raid hits the Prince Albert Theatre on Drury Lane, rescuers find a man dying in the wreckage. But it wasn't the bomb that caused his fatal injuries - he's been stabbed, and with his dying breath he whispers what sounds like a fragmented confession ...

As Detective Inspector John Jago begins to investigate, there's an underlying question he must grapple with: was the murdered man a killer himself?