It is February 1912 when barrister Daniel Pitt is reunited with his old college friend, Inspector Ian Frobisher. Following allegations of plagiarism, one of their Cambridge University professors has committed an assault, and Ian has recommended that Daniel defends him. Meanwhile, Daniel's friend Miriam fford Croft has returned to London as a newly qualified forensic pathologist. On Daniel's first visit to the morgue, he is shocked to find Miriam examining the mutilated body of a young woman and, what's worse, it is being compared to another corpse bearing identical wounds. As rumours spread of a serial killer, nicknamed 'the rainy-day slasher', stalking the streets of London, Daniel is drawn into the pursuit of a brutal murderer whose killing spree is far from over...