Kate O'Donnell, fresh from her adventures in Dead Beat, discovers yet
again there's a darker side to London in the Swinging Sixties
With Beatlemania having finally reached the capital, it's an exciting
time to be in London. Especially for young photographer Kate O'Donnell,
who left her native Liverpool six months previously to share a
dilapidated flat with two girlfriends in trendy Notting Hill. But
there's a darker side to 1960s' London, Kate discovers, when she and her
neighbours are menaced by an unscrupulous landlord, seemingly intent on
convicting his tenants by fair means or foul.
The already tense atmosphere worsens when a prostitute is found murdered
off the Portobello Road and a West Indian immigrant is arrested,
inflaming the district's simmering racial tension to breaking point. The
accused is Nelson Mackintosh, the father of one of Kate's flatmate
Tess's pupils. Convinced of Nelson's innocence, Kate determines to track
down the real killer.
But when her activities attract the attention of notorious West Indian
gangster King Devine, not even Kate's old sparring partner DS Harry
Barnard can ensure her safety.