On September 21, 1948, a body is found near Borough Market. There are no signs of foul play.

During the autopsy, the coroner finds a note in the deceased's coat pocket.

My Dear Sir Thanatos, Shall we play? Yours, Makris

Sir Thanatos Boyd, cruelly named after the Greek god of death by his grieving father after the death of his wife, is considered the country's greatest detective and England's most dangerous man. Sir Thanatos, a tall, brooding person with a dark history going back to the first world war, begins to be taunted by a killer whose victims appear to have died from natural causes. So begins a deadly cat and mouse game that takes Thanatos back to the memories of his own dark past. Makris is determined to show the world that the brilliant Thanatos Boyd is no match for himself and in so doing never considers that his protagonist could be a far more brutal killer than himself.