Roy Marsden returns as author P.D. James's indefatigable gumshoe, Inspector Adam Dalgliesh. This time, he's investigating the murder of a famous mystery writer whose body is found in the bottom of a dinghy on the Suffolk coast. To add a further degree of difficulty, Dalgliesh must contend with a colleague on the case, the aptly named Inspector Reckless.

The story is about the murder of Venetia Aldridge, a QC (Queen's Council) in a London "Chambers" and a very ambitious barrister who has a track record of winning her cases. She doesn't necessarily prove that her clients are innocent, she simply disproves the prosecution's case against them. In the course of her career ,she has made enemies and one of them kills her and she is found in a very ritualistic setting.