Brighton

It is the 1950s when Marion first catches sight of Tom. Her teaches her to swim and she is smitten – determined that her love will be enough for both of them. A few years later, Patrick meets Tom. Patrick is besotted with him and opens his eyes to a sophisticated new world. Tom is their policeman, and in this age it is safer for him to marry Marion. The two lovers must share him until one of them breaks and three lives are destroyed.

1950s. A seedy seaside resort gripped by post-war austerity, fogs and now a sensational murder. When the body of a young woman is found cut into three, DI Stephens is reminded of a magic trick. Its inventor, who served with him in the war as part of a shadowy unit, The Magic Men, is still on the variety circuit touring seaside towns. Reluctant to get involved initially he changes his mind when it emerges that the dead woman is his former stage assistant.  Then they are warned of a deadly ‘trick’ to come – but who will be the target?

Summer 1968. On a film set in Brighton three characters are leading secret lives. Elfrida is drowning her writer’s block in vodka; Talbot is hiding something in a clandestine apartment; and Anny is wondering why the FBI are showing a sudden interest in her. But the show must go on and, as it does, their private worlds begin to take over their public ones. As tensions build, someone is inevitably going to crack…