The fiancé of Lord Peter's sister, Mary, is found dead outside the conservatory of the family's shooting lodge in Yorkshire. Peter's and Mary's older brother, the Duke of Denver, is charged with wilful murder and put on trial in the House of Lords.
It was meant to be a harmless stag night prank. A few hours later four of his best friends are dead and Michael Harrison has disappeared. With only three days to the wedding, Detective Superintendent Grace - a man haunted by the shadow of his own missing wife - is contacted by Michael's beautiful, distraught fiancée, Ashley Harper. Grace discovers that the one man who ought to know Michael Harrison's whereabouts...