Protection

When Bernard 'Tenderness' Mellick maims Ivor Wright with a blowtorch, Wright retaliates from his hospital bed by sending his men to kidnap Mellick's 11-year old son. At the same time, a colleague of Harpur's, Hubert Scott, is the subject of an internal investigation. Scott's longterm underworld contact just happens to be 'Tenderness' Mellick, and it is Mellick's plight which gives Scott an idea that if successful, could tie up a number of loose ends and clear him in the eyes of the department. 'Extraordinary and electrifying' Val McDermid