DI Charlie George

When a priest is found crucified in a derelict North London chapel, it makes a dramatic change for DI Charlie George and his squad at Essex Road. The brutal murder could not be further from their routine of domestic violence and stabbings on the estates. And that's only the beginning.... On Christmas Eve, a police officer goes missing and his colleagues can't help but anticipate the worst. It turns out they're right to when eventually the body is found and they discover he's been stoned to death.

He loves surprises. But not this one. A schoolgirl is found dead in a park in North London and DI Charlie George is not short of suspects - is it her stepfather? Is it a sex crime? Is it race-related? Charlie finally thinks he has it sorted, with his killer bang to rights. But then his lawyer gets him free on a technicality. And that's just the start of his troubles. He's been a cop all his life, he thought he'd seen everything. But Charlie soon realises he hasn't seen anything yet.

Two women are snatched off the streets of London in one weekend. DI Charlie George and his team get to work. The lives of these young women - one of them a mother - are on the line, and the clock is ticking. When they catch a lucky break from a CCTV camera, Charlie is sure they have their man. And that's when he gets his first surprise. Because nothing about this case is simple, and not everyone is quite what they seem.

Most acts of violence are pretty random. But murdering someone and impaling their head on the railing outside the Royal Courts of Justice...that takes planning. And when the pathologist finds a page from a book rammed down the dead man's throat, DI Charlie George thinks it's safe to assume that someone, somewhere, wants to send a message. But people who have the resources to plan a murder like that also have the smarts not to get caught. So Charlie knows he has a problem.