Chief Superintendent Wycliffe comes across evidence on his own doorstep - and it leads him into very deep water . . .
Wycliffe's home overlooks a peaceful, West Country estuary - but even here he can't get away from crime.
When he is taking a Sunday morning walk along the shore, he comes across a service revolver with one chamber recently fired. In recent years Wycliffe has often regretted the fact that his rank cuts him off from the early stages of an investigation, but here he is, in at the very start.
The case takes Wycliffe into the world of art robberies and crooked...