"Thoughtful . . . vivid . . . challenging . . . Like the region that breeds them, the people in Robinson's mystery flaunt their colors but keep their secrets." —The New York Times Book Review
The third installment in the internationally bestselling Inspector Banks series
Violence erupts at an anti-nuclear demonstration in the usually peaceful town of Eastvale, leaving one young policeman stabbed to death with over a hundred suspects. Detective Chief Inspector Banks is called upon to investigate the murder, but things get difficult when an old rival, the volatile Superintendent Richard "Dirty Dick" Burgess, is sent from London to lead the investigation. As Burgess narrows his suspicions on the inhabitants of "Maggie's Farm," an isolated house high on the daleside, Banks sifts through a host of unusual suspects and disturbing discoveries about the police themselves.
Then Banks is warned off the case, and he realizes that the only way he can salvage his career is by beating Burgess to the killer. As the two head for a final confrontation, Banks pieces together the full story behind his most tragic case so far.