John River is a brilliant police inspector whose genius lies side-by-side with the fragility of his mind. He is a man haunted by the murder victims whose cases he must lay to rest.

A hardened, yet psychologically vulnerable, Swedish-born police detective in London struggles to deal with having witnessed the murder of his detective partner. He must come to terms with the loss whilst investigating her murder, helped (and sometimes hindered) by what he calls 'manifests' - the ghosts of both victims and criminals, including the shade of his partner.

DI John River of the Metropolitan Police is a brooding, brilliant Swede with an 80% turn rate on his cases...and the manifest of his murdered partner, DS Jackie "Stevie" Stevenson (and various others) all keeping him company and feeding him facts from his subconscious mind.—LA-Lawyer

Detective Inspector John River is a great police detective, and a tormented soul. His partner, Detective Sergeant Jackie Stevenson, was murdered recently and this has unhinged him. He sees the perpetrators wherever he looks. Most of all, he still sees her, wherever he goes.—grantss