Returning to Oxford after treatment for alcoholism, Morse investigates a murder case involving a famous orchestra, and finds links to the past.

A crime wave has taken hold of Oxford - a homeless man is grievously assaulted, a young PC is found dead, and a notable artist reported missing.

Morse's investigation into a number of untimely death notices in the Oxford Mail takes him to a series of funerals, then behind the curtain at a funeral directors', before forcing him to confront his own mortality.