DI Charlie Priest is on holiday when he gets a call from his colleagues at Heckley about the opening of a local shopping and conference center. Amid the paparazzi flash bulbs, minor royalty, and preening local officials, someone by-passed security and have succeeded in making the Heckley force look stupid. But in this 16th and final book in the series, that seemingly trivial incident kills Charlie's vacation and leads him into a murder investigation.