Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh had been looking forward to a quiet holiday at his aunt's cottage on Monksmere Head one of the furthest-flung spots on the remote Suffolk coast. With nothing to do other than enjoy long wind-swept walks tea in front of the crackling wood fire & hot buttered toast Dalgliesh was relishing the thought of a well-earned break. However all hope of peace is soon shattered by murder. The mutilated body of a local crime writer Maurice Seaton floats ashore in a drifting dinghy to drag Adam Dalgliesh into a new & macabre investigation.