My name is Peter Grant, and I used to be a probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service, and to everyone else as the Filth. My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit - 'We do paperwork so real coppers don't have to'. Then one night I tried to take a witness statement from a man who was already dead but still disturbingly voluble - and that led me to Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England. And that, as they say, is where the story really starts. There's something festering at the heart of the city I love, a malicious, vengeful spirit that's taking ordinary Londoners and twisting them into something awful; mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair. The spirit of riot and rebellion has awakened in the city, and it's falling to me to bring order out of chaos - or to die trying.