A five-mile stretch of arrow-straight road outside Latchford acts like a magnet to bikers using the road as a drag strip. When one of the bikers is killed in an apparent accident, most people regard it as an inevitable consequence of the kids using drugs and racing bikes for kicks. But the evidence points to the young man's death being something more sinister than a mere accident. George Gently is quickly on the case, drawn into a scene populated by disaffected teenagers, a scene played out to a jazz soundtrack and with a background of murder.