A trip to a wintry island in the English Channel spells peril for forensic scientist Simon St. James and his wife, Deborah, when they discover that the sixty-year-old legacy of World War II still haunts the isle's inhabitants and dark secrets from the past threaten to destroy the present.

Inspector Thomas Lynley of Scotland Yard and detective sergeant Barbara Havers are approached by a member of Parliament with a request to investigate the supposed suicide of a constituent's son.

"Elizabeth George reigns as queen of the mystery genre. The Lynley books constitute the smartest, most gratifyingly complex and impassioned mystery series now being published." —Entertainment Weekly

One of the most acclaimed entries in Elizabeth George's New York Times bestselling Inspector Lynley series—a masterfully structured, multilayered jigsaw puzzle of a mystery rich with intrigue and atmosphere

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Going undercover to investigate the death of a drowning victim at the request of the man's wealthy and influential uncle, Inspector Thomas Lynley uncovers dark secrets in his client's family while one of Lynley's partners, Deborah St. James, becomes increasingly obsessed with a chief suspect's wife.