Dr Roger Harvey, a high-flyer headed for the academic first division, has pursued his career and women with equal passion. But now he's just another murder statistic; his body has been lying in his flat for four days when a small-time burglar literally stumbles over it on his way out with the stereo. DS Ian Kerr and DCI Jacobson of Crowby CID can discern no obvious motive. Harvey didn't do serious drugs or have a criminal record. Not even Harvey's closest friends, John Kent and his beautiful wife, Annie, seem able to throw any light on the situation. Despite Jacobson's dependence on booze and fags, and the fact that Kerr's marriage is disintegrating faster than his boss's liver, the two men are experienced policemen. But to solve the case they have to untangle the dark threads of a mystery which threatens to unravel in seemingly every direction ...