Chief Inspector Wexford needs to discover if there is any connection between two apparently unrelated deaths. But he is soon accused in the local press of old-fashioned police methods.

          However, with his old friend and partner, Mike Burden, and two new recruits to the Kingsmarkham team, Wexford pursues his inquiries with a diligence and humanity that make Ruth Rendell’s detective stories enthralling, exciting and very touching.