The quiet life of the Yorkshire countryside is shattered by a brutal murder and the shocking revelations unearthed by Scotland Yard investigators Barbara Havers and Thomas Lynley.

The murder of a journalist leads to the exposure of a family secret and the loss of love for Inspector Thomas Lynley, who has just brought his young fiancé home to his picturesque Cornwall village.

Deborah and Simon St. James have taken a holiday in the winter landscape of Lancastershire, hoping to heal the growing rift in their marriage. But in the barren countryside awaits bleak news: The vicar of Wimslough, the man they had come to see, is dead -- a victim of accidental poisoning. Unsatisfied with the inquest ruling and unsettled by the close association between the investigating constable and the woman who served the deadly meal, Simon calls...

On compassionate leave after the murder of his wife, Thomas Lynley is called back to Scotland Yard when the body of a woman is found stabbed and abandoned in an isolated London cemetery. While Lynley works on the case in London, his former colleagues Barbara Havers and Winston Nkata follow the murder trail south to the New Forest--and to an outcome that is both tragic and shocking.

Barbara is at a loss. The daughter of her friend Taymullah Azhar has been taken by her mother, and Barbara can't really help -- Azhar had never married Angelina, and his name isn't on Hadiyyah's, their daughter's, birth certificate. He has no legal claim. Azhar and Barbara hire a private detective, but the trail goes cold. Azhar is just beginning to accept his soul-crushing loss when Angelina reappears with shocking news: Hadiyyah is missing, kidnapped...

When a Member of Parliament shows up at New Scotland Yard requesting an investigation into the suicide of the son of one of his constituents in the beautiful town of Ludlow, the Assistant Commissioner sees two opportunities in this request: the first is to have an MP owing him a favour, and the second is to get rid of Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, whose career at the Met has been hanging by a thread for quite some time. So he assigns Havers to...