A peaceful demonstration in the normally quiet town of Eastvale ended with fifty arrests -- & the brutal stabbing death of a young constable. But Chief Inspector Alan Banks fears there is worse violence in the offing. For CID Superintendent Richard " Dirty Dick" Burgess has arrived from London to take charge of the investigation, fueled by professional outrage & volatile, long-simmering hatreds. Almost immediately, Burgess descends with vengeful fury upon the members of a sixties-style commune -- while Banks sifts through the rich Yorkshire soil around him, turning over the earthy, unsettling secrets of seemingly placid local lives. Crossing " Dirty Dick" could cost the Chief Inspector his career. But the killing of a flawed Eastvale policeman is not the only murder that needs to be solved here. & if Banks doesn't unmask the true assassin, his superior's misguided obsession might well result in further bloodshed.