In the Swinging Sixties, a battle for the soul of the city is fought between cops and criminals, the corrupt and the corrupted.

November 1968. Judy Garland is performing drunk at the Palladium, and the city of London is about to catch fire-literally. Summoned to a gas explosion, Detective Sergeant Cathal Breen unearths a shocking discovery beneath the rubble: mind-bending paintings by Bridget Riley and Peter Blake ... and the garroted body of Jacob Pugh, a playboy god in the art world. With Detective Helen Tozer, Breen must infiltrate the artistic demimonde of a volatile and increasingly murderous city.

Seen through the eyes of an irresistible pair of detectives, the real London comes into view in The Kings of London: a gritty metropolis thrives in the shadows beyond the spotlights, and all manner of vice is committed in the name of liberation.