Formerly retired policeman Brendy McCusker is forced to return to work following his wife's flight to America with their nest-egg. On his first major case in Belfast he partners with DI Lily O'Carroll to locate the two missing sons of a wealthy businessman. But before that case is resolved, an American banker working in Belfast is brutally murdered down on leafy Cyprus Avenue and McCusker and O'Carroll are put on the case. While the list of suspects grows ever longer, McCusker find himself juggling his move to Belfast, O'Carroll's frequent blind dates, his status as a hired-back rent-a-cop, and being a single man while trying hard not to have his head turned by Belfast's beautiful women - one mysterious one in particular. There is no relief when McCusker and O'Carroll eventually find a suspect with an air-tight alibi, which only one of the detectives believes is genuine.