An admired local historian is found dead and half-buried in a farmer's field in the village of Gratly. A slimy land-developer, an editor, a local thriller writer, and a beautiful folk singer are all figures from the historian's past, and all of them are suspects. Sally, a young would-be actress, knows more than she's telling and wants to solve the case herself, but may find herself in danger. There's trouble brewing beneath Gratly's idyllic surface, and Chief Inspector Alan Banks must get to the bottom of the village's secrets. Second in the critically acclaimed Inspector Banks Mystery Series.