A man is found dead beside a road in Cheltenham. Six months earlier, an extraordinary racehorse arrives at a quiet National Hunt yard.
At Sampfield Grange, trainer James Sampfield Peveril knows Tabikat could be the horse he's waited a lifetime for. What he doesn't understand is why such a valuable prospect has been entrusted to him - or why the horse's past seems to connect people who should have nothing to do with one another.
From the racing yards of England and Ireland to Liverpool and the Canal du Midi in southern France, other lives are unfolding. Old friendships, family histories, criminal connections and long-held secrets begin to surface.
At first, their stories appear entirely separate.
Gradually, the connections emerge.
As Tabikat's extraordinary journey takes him towards the greatest prize in jump racing, the people drawn into his story head towards a reckoning of their own.
A character-driven crime mystery of racing, relationships, secrets and seemingly unconnected lives - brought together by one remarkable horse.