A suspicious death and a large inheritance without anyone to receive it

Eric Ward is forced to retire from the police when he discovers he suffers from glaucoma. But he qualifies as a lawyer and sets up his practice on the Quayside in Newcastle, where he deals with the seamier side of the law.

Ward thinks there is something odd about Arthur Egan's life and death, but the former police inspector is trained to be suspicious. Egan left a large sum, but Ward makes no progress tracing the dead man's offspring. A photograph of an unknown tombstone is his only clue. He discovers Egan served a term for manslaughter and that the evidence against him may have been planted. Why had he accepted his fate so meekly?

Despite warnings that he is wasting the firm's time, Ward persists in his investigations. And by the time he realizes why, he finds his life and career are both at risk.

This fast-paced mystery will have you enthralled from the start. Set in England in the late 1970s, this is the first book to feature Eric Ward.