Business partners Anthony Mallalieu and Milford Cotherstone have been living in the Yorkshire town of Highmarket for thirty years. Their building company has prospered, and their property holdings expanded. But their quiet, satisfied existence is upended when one of their tenants, a retired detective, is found murdered. At first suspicion falls on an odd local character, but Mallalieu and Cotherstone themselves have a secret to hide, and ruptures in their placid exteriors begin to emerge.

J. S. Fletcher’s intimate knowledge and love of Yorkshire inform this compelling mystery. As the plot thickens, local color and well-drawn characters heighten the drama and draw in the reader.