Melia is suffering from the fact that her boyfriend Mickey is out of town, sent away on a secret mission, according to her boss. She's on her own, left to pick up the pieces of a favour he promised to a friend, to meet with her ex-husband and see if their marriage can't be saved. It's a mundane matter, far removed from Melia's day job as a Secret Agent. Just her bad luck, then, that she is on hand to witness a murder, taking place at that most unlikely setting, an arts centre on the renovated banks of the River Irwell in Salford. What lofty heights such a setting promises, and what depths of depravity it delivers. Melia is shocked to find evidence of corruption and double-dealing, forgery and fraud. She is swept along by a tide of wickedness, and then another attempted murder forces her to re-consider again; is she out of her depth? Are the murky waters of the river merely concealing worse things than she ever thought possible? Is it time to leave? If only she could: it isn't easy, once you've been kidnapped.