Epsom Downs, 1854. Derby Day draws vast crowds from every level of Victorian society. Dukes and dustmen, bishops and beggars, privileged ladies and prostitutes, all are packed together in feverish anticipation. But race day is also a hotbed for crime.With the nation already a-flutter, Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck and Sergeant Victor Leeming are tasked with the alarming case of a disembodied head found on a passenger train at Crewe. It is the first stop in a murky course of events that takes in murder, fraud and racefixing. As Colbeck and Leeming become ensnarled in a web of deception stretching across the country, they are forced to ask themselves, just how much is someone prepared to hazard to win?
