The fourth book to feature the classic crime-solving detective Chief Inspector Wexford Nothing is ever quite what it seems A man & his daughter lie dead after a car accident Strangely no other car was involved & no cause has been found Wexford's only option is to wait & hope that the one surviving victim
- the mother Mrs Fanshawe
- regains consciousness But when she finally awakens six weeks later Wexford's attention has already been distracted by a new & very violent case Walking by the canal that same morning Wexford discovered the bloody body of Charlie Hatton The two cases are obviously unrelated although something is bothering Wexford & he can't work out why or what But just as he begins to wonder whether there could in fact be a connection the unexpected occurs the Fanshawe daughter believed to be killed in the accident appears at her mother's beside very much alive