This unique murder mystery is both a penetrating analysis of a decaying social class and a deeply moving personal story of two men: Peter Proctor, recently retired as a senior British cabinet minister, and Timothy Wycliffe, a young aristocrat who was bludgeoned to death more than thirty years ago. Once close friends, their relationship had gradually faded; even Wycliffe's shocking murder caused relatively little impact on his friends and the national press, who were distracted that week by more momentous events in the news.

Only now, over three decades later, does Wycliffe's death become Proctor's obsession. At the end of a long and distinguished career, Proctor decides to write his memoirs, and finds his mind overtaken by memories of Timothy Wycliffe. It is only in probing the past and discovering the shocking truth of Wycliffe's murder that Proctor will find peace.