A Complex Web Of Lies, Murder, International Drug Trafficking And Passion.

Scotland Yard's Adam Dalgliesh is called in to investigate the murder of a drug racketeer found strangled in the basement of a respectable London book club. His key witness in the case turns out to be a young single mother, Sally Jupp, on a day visit to London to show off her 8-week-old son to her former co-workers at the book club.

The investigation switches back and forth between he urban drug scene, where one detective has already been killed, and a country estate, where the recently employed young woman has made more enemies than friends.

As mysterious deaths pile up, Dalgliesh is immersed in a sea of suspects, aggressive, evasive answers and deeply hidden motives.