Douglas Hunter works as a police detective till he attempts to locate his missing wife by abusing privileged access to police databases. Forced to resign, he takes on clients. His first, Alison Ogilvie, has deep suspicions of her husband, which prove to be correct when he turns up dead with a plastic bag over his head. The two are pursued by Hunter's ex-boss, DS Maureen MacNeil, who didn't like him before and likes him even less now that he has gone private. In their attempts to discover what has happened to their respective partners, and to defend themselves from the abrasive DS MacNeil, they form an unlikely but effective partnership.

To the well-meaning people of Future World the problem is obvious: too many people. However, so is the solution: eliminate as many of their fellow human beings as they can - though for Catherine Cooper, Cindy Horváth and Gina Saito, this is easier said than done... at least until they get their hands on a bird flu virus made lethal in the lab. But as they work out how to use it to the most devastating effect, the German security service gets wind of their intention, as does an unscrupulous freelance agent from the United States. Following a succession of bizarre events, including a conversation with a cat, a fractured penis and the testimony of a Japanese sex doll, only the last woman standing, fish-whisperer Gina Saito, can hope to bring it off. However, the only way she can do this will involve her own death on foreign soil...Set in Berlin, Los Angeles, England and Japan, the unfolding events show that having a plan isn't enough: good intentions can lead to...