Trinidad 1972: Michael Abdul Malik scampers through dense jungle, attempting to evade a police manhunt. Captured and demonised, he is accused of murdering English hippie, Gale Ann Benson and a gardener, Joe Skerritt. The media brand him public enemy number one.

Meanwhile in New York, a brash young journalist, Rachael Dixon, smells a story when she learns that John Lennon, with whom she has publicly and embarrassingly clashed, funded Michael’s escape from justice in the UK. Determined to exact revenge and trash Lennon’s reputation by ‘proving’ he’s funding a ‘monstrous killer’ regardless of the truth, Rachael journeys down to Trinidad to cover Michael’s story. A college drop-out now rapidly hitting the glass ceiling, Rachael hopes to recover her self-respect and sense of professional purpose.

But in Trinidad she is a fish out of water. Unable to interview the accused or his wife Desiree, she’s forced to resort to Natalie, Michael’s former lover and now a member of a hippie cult. Natalie’s views on Michael are distinctly ‘rose-tinted’, in marked contrast to the dishevelled wreck on trial for murder. The Michael she knew in London could change the world, especially after a life-changing meeting with Malcolm X in 1964 gives him purpose and identity as Michael X, multicultural pioneer. Rachael’s ‘monster’ narrative is challenged. Could she be wrong about him and John Lennon? To compound matters, Rachael witnesses Desiree, the only person openly protesting Michael’s innocence accuse one of his ‘followers’ of being an undercover agent working with the police. Is Michael an evil monster or has Rachael stepped into a major injustice? Either way, a bigger ‘splash’ beckons. Now Rachael must decide what matters most – the actual truth, the juiciest narrative, or her own vendetta against Lennon?  

An explosive and contemporary story set in a time long before 24-hour broadcasts, The King of Notting Hill explores a ‘fake news’ narrative from a different era – the creation of a media villain designed to manipulate the truth. Rachael’s investigation leads her to expose a ruthless conspiracy that disposes of political threats regardless of their guilt or innocence. For the deeper she delves into Michael’s story, the more a multi-faceted figure emerges. To some, a charismatic, radical visionary and force for good, to others, a killer damaged by a traumatized childhood.

Ignoring pleas to keep running with the ‘evil murderer’ hook, Rachael switches sides and actively campaigns for Michael’s acquittal, a decision which almost gets her killed. Yet despite this and Michael’s deeply tainted conviction, she learns through his story how to separate truth from myth and how simple solutions do not lend themselves to complex problems. In the process, Rachael comes of age and changes her life. She gives up journalism, goes back to college and finishes her law degree.