Jim Taggart attends the wedding of social worker Jane Ross and jailbird Charlie Forbes. Janie Ross is later found murdered and a chain of seemingly unrelated events begins.

A body is dredged up from the bottom of the Clyde, setting Taggart and Jardine off on an investigation which takes them beyond Glasgow into the Scottish Highlands.

A by-election is taking place in Glasgow and one of the candidates represents the Referendum for the Return of Capital Punishment party. When the candidate and her agent are murdered, Taggart is pressed for a quick solution to the crime.