Scotland Yard Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and Sergeant Gemma James are sent to suburban Surrey to investigate the murder of a high-ranking police officer. Alastair Gilbert was bludgeoned to death in his kitchen, and the list of potential suspects is long — the man's arrogance earned him widespread enmity both in the village where he lived, and in police circles. But Duncan and Gemma must put aside their personal feelings — for the victim, as well as for each other — to solve the most troubling case either has faced.