Harrison (Harry) Foster is a lawyer by training but works as a crisis manager. Summoned to Newmarket after a fire in the Chadwick Stables slaughters six very valuable horses, finds there is far more to the 'simple' fire than initially meets the eye. For a start, human remains are found amongst the equestrian ones in the burnt-out shell. All the stable staff are accounted for, so who is the mystery victim? The Chadwick family are a dysfunctional racing dynasty, with the emphasis being on the nasty. Resentment between the generations is rife and sibling rivalry bubbles away like volcanic magma beneath a thin crust of respectability. Harry represents the Middle-Eastern owner of the Derby favourite and, as he delves deeper into the unanswered questions surrounding the horse's demise, he ignites a fuse that blows the volcano sky-high, putting him in grave jeopardy.