The women of London are being terrorized by a serial killer, and Dalgliesh must wade his way through a group of odd suspects to stop the murderer before he strikes again.

Commander Dalgliesh is asked by Sir Alfred Treeves, a successful businessman, to investigate the death of his son, one of the young ordinands of the theological college of St. Anselm's in East Anglia.

Explores the true meaning of justice when a brilliant, but widely unpopular, defense attorney is found stabbed to death, a barrister's wig on her head, and her body drenched in blood that is not her own.

Scotland Yard's Adam Dalgliesh is searching for a "back seat strangler" who has already murdered four people. When an unpopular forensic scientist is found dead in a British government laboratory, Dalgliesh discovers that almost everyone there could be a suspect. When another body is found nearby, the detective must race against time to find the killer.