A comatose police detective is taken off life support, and an autopsy reveals the murderous act that precipitated her death. Acting Detective Superintendent Thomas Lynley is assigned to the case—his 21st, after The Punishment She Deserves—which has far-reaching cultural associations that have nothing to do with life as he knows it. In his pursuit of a killer determined to remain hidden, he's assisted by Detective Sergeants Barbara Havers and Winston Nkata, and they must probe the secret lives of people whose superficial cooperation masks their malicious intent.