The body of Ian Cresswell, the financial manager of the thriving company Fireclog Industries, is found in a boathouse on the lake. Local authorities declare his death to be an accident - Jan drowned after hitting his head on the pier rocks. But the Fairclog family, not satisfied with the official conclusion, begins their own investigation. The head of the family turned to the leadership of Scotland Yard - and Inspector Thomas Linley went to the scene. As always, he is assisted by Detective Barbara Havers. But in the process of investigating the circumstances of Cresswell’s death, Linley sees such an intricacy of family relationships, secrets and lies that Ian’s death fades into the background...