Who would have thought that a chance remark at a family Christmas luncheon in the heart of the picturesque English midlands, would've led Detective Chief Inspector Bill Harrigan of the London Metropolitan Police, on a personal vendetta against the brutality and horror of the IRA terrorism sweeping across mainland Britain. What caused him to pit himself against what he saw as an inept Special Branch, as he followed the trail of mayhem and destruction that travelled their evil course through the ages, from the battles in the late sixteen hundreds that raged between King Edward the 1st of England and the nobles of Scotland, to the cruel and senseless murders of today's society laid bare in front of him. In another intriguing Harrigan mystery, the Christmas of nineteen eighty-nine, is a Christmas that will forever change the lives of many across the world, from the beautiful English Midlands market town of Chipping Minster, to the rugged Australian outback opal mining town of Coober Pedy and reaching across to the turbulent times of the approaching end of the USSR.