Detective Inspector Charlie Priest of Heckley CID is the kind of copper who likes to get on with the job, though his unorthodox methods have held him at Inspector level for a record-breaking length of time. Yet while few other modern detectives would chase a Rolls Royce down the lanes of West Yorkshire in a clapped-out Cortina, Priest does get results. When he's not putting crooks behind bars he's looking out for his team of young constables, only too aware that for them as much as for him the knockabout humour of the copshop is in stark contrast to the dangers they face on the beat. Sheep stealing and shoplifting are everyday crimes in Heckley, but there are local villains with bigger fish to fry. When Charlie suspects a now-respected businessman, with a background of extortion and GBH, of involvement in an international art fraud, he's taking on an enemy with friends in high places. But Charlie can be persistent to the point of recklessness, and once he's realised there's a link to the doctored heroin that's striking down the local kids, no threat will stop him.