Henry Carter Hull

Dennis Luxford's past catches up with him when he receives an anonymous note demanding that he admit to fathering the daughter of an up-and-coming politician who refuses to allow the information to be made public.

Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, still grieving the murder of his wife, agrees to help London Metropolitan Police superintendent Isabelle Ardery investigate the killing of a young woman who recently moved from Hampshire, and uncovers a number of suspects and motives, while also developing an attachment to Isabelle.

When an adolescent boy's mutilated body is found, it doesn't take long for the police to realize that this is the work of a serial killer.