When the bodies of Henry Crossworth and Heather Lynley are discovered on a bright August Monday morning, DCI Dexter Smalacombe is given the harrowing job of investigating the gruesome murders. To add to Smalacombe's concerns, this is the first major case for his new sergeant, DS Emily Corndon – young, beautiful, intelligent, and highly ambitious. But as Emily appraises Smalacombe, her superior, as an unsophisticated country boy, far removed from her background, can the pair work together to solve the murders of the wealthy businessman and school teacher so recently found? As the DCI and his young sergeant find themselves investigating a web of business intrigue, a string of affairs, casual relationships and suspicion of corruption, the pair begin to wonder whether the two crimes are connected, and if so, why were the bodies found forty miles apart? Perhaps this is what the murderer intended...