Jack Parlabane rents a flat from a friend in Edinburgh (which just happens to be opposite a police station), and investigating the unpleasant murder of a gambling medic in the flat below proves too much to resist, the victim mutilated and the crime scene grossly vandalized; the victim, Dr Jeremy Ponsonby, is tied up, missing both his nose and his index fingers, had his throat cut, and the crime scene is covered in urine and faeces and vomit, the latter being from the postman who found the body.

Parlabane soon finds himself involved with a number of characters including Darren Mortlake, a hit-man from Essex, Dr Sarah Slaughter, the dead doctor's ex-wife, lesbian with attitude DC Jenny Dalziel, and crooked hospital trust administrator Stephen Lime.

Journalist Jack Parlabane gets accidentally locked out and, entering a neighbour's flat, stumbles into a bizarre crime scene, the victim a horribly mutilated Dr Jeremy Ponsonby.

With Parlabane found suspicious and taken in for questioning, Ponsonby's ex-wife, Dr Sarah Slaughter, later enters the unattended crime scene in an attempt to accept his death.

Finding a plastic ampoule dropped at the scene, Sarah collects it as Parlabane appears, released from custody, and he invites her into his flat to talk.

Previously, hitman Darren Mortlake snuck into Posonby's flat on behalf of Midlothian NHS trust administrator Stephen Lime, intending to inject Ponsonby with potassium chloride and make his death look like a heart attack.

Hiding in a Bed and Breakfast hotel owned by one Mrs Kinross, Darren inadvertently attracts her attention when he impulsively kills her dog, despite tactfully disposing of the body.

Mrs Kinross, aware Darren has murdered her dog and discovering he's a fugitive, drugs his food and ties him to his bed, breaking his nose in anger and leaving to calling the police.

Having failed to apprehend Darren and informed by Jack, Dalziel and the inspectors race to Lime's home, only to find him missing and an empty case of shotgun shells.