Colin Dexter's brain-teasing whodunit unravels a complex web of deceit and betrayal in the upper echelons of Oxford academia. At the centre of this web is the murder of a young woman, Rachel James, shot from close range through her kitchen window.
Chief Inspector E. Morse is called in to investigate, but the motive is frustratingly elusive and alibis are thick on the ground. But then, after a visit to his GP, Morse is face with a far more personal crisis.