George Hennessey is beginning to accept the inevitable - that age is catching up with him and he needs to delegate to, and nurture, his young up and coming team. But there is no substitute for experience as he marshals his troops to investigate and eventually link two parallel murders committed twenty or so years apart. First, the pathetic figure of Ebenezer Moulton trudges back from his father's funeral straight to the police station to confess he witnessed as a young child his late father, in the company of others, committing a murder. But naturally things are not quite as straightforward as they seem and the convoluted trail leads to the murder of man in his twenties whose father is not exactly a pillar of the community.

Hennessey and Yellich encourage their team, notably in the shape of Carmen Pharoah and Thomson Ventnor, to probe deeper as they uncover more sinister goings on in the apparently tranquil Vale of York.Peter Turnbull's narrative and gift of economic description move to new heights in this powerful story.