The relationship between Lynley and Havers reaches its all-time low when they investigate a case of kidnapping and murder involving the secret child of a member of parliament and a newspaper editor.

Lynley returns to his ancestral home in Cornwall to celebrate his engagement to Helen. His difficult relationship with his dysfunctional family is soon overshadowed by a murder on part of his own estate - and the chief suspect is Peter, Lynley's drug-addict brother.