Bristol detective DS George Cross might be difficult to work with – but his unfailing logic and determined pursuit of the truth means he is second to none at convicting killers.

When the police dismiss a man's death as a squabble among the homeless community, Cross is not convinced; there are too many unanswered questions. Who was the unknown man whose weather-beaten body was discovered on Clifton Downs? And was the same tragedy that resulted in his life on the streets also responsible for his death?

As Cross delves into the dead man's past, he discovers that the answers lie in a case that has been cold for fifteen years. Cross is the only person who can unpick the decades-old murder – after all, who better to decipher the life of a person who society has forgotten than a man who has always felt like an outsider himself?