Detective Inspector David Bliss has been transferred from London, England to Hampshire in what appears his new subordinates and superiors as a move down the career ladder. His first day on the job begins with a murder: Jonathan Dauntsey, son of the Major, willingly confesses to murdering his father. It’s an open and shut case, until the investigation stalls when the police can’t find the body. As the mystery of the murder begins to resolve itself, so does the mystery of Bliss’s transfer from the big city to a small town.