Dalgliesh investigates the death of scientist Doctor Edmund Lorrimer at Hoggatt's Forensic Laboratory, Dalgliesh soon learns that the late Doctor was not a popular figure.

After a second murder, Dalgliesh and his team dig into the least likely of places to uncover a web of deceit, power struggles, and desperation.

Dalgliesh, Kate Miskin, and new D.S. Daniel Tarrant investigate the murder of an abrasive female defence barrister who successfully defended a shady young man on murder charges, only for him to begin dating her daughter.

As Dalgliesh's team sort out the complicated motives surrounding the victim's murder, they are running out of time to save her daughter from her dangerous fiancee.

The grisly discovery provides a new inquiry that leads to a hidden room, Ties to intelligence agents and a scandalous society at the heart of the museum. The team race to crack the case as the killer prepares to strike again.