In England, a Bosnian refugee befriends a vicar's wife, who finds him work. Soon after a member of the church is murdered and the Bosnian disappears. A tale of immigrant smuggling which detectives Oddie and Peace try to unravel.

When a young man is found strangled outside an Indian restaurant in England, Charlie Peace travels to a nearby art colony to see if he can identify the body and find the killer, but when he arrives he discovers the colony's residents will do anything to keep him from snooping around.

"Robert Barnard, the internationally acclaimed Diamond Dagger-winning crime writer, dissects family bonds at their best and worst in this stunning novel of suspense. What an honor--to become trustee of an English stately home museum. Yorkshire Detective Inspector Charlie Peace's wife, Felicity, is initially thrilled when she's asked to join the board that oversees Walbrook Manor, an eighteenth-century mansion that's now part of a charitable trust....