Detective Constable Sharon Mayfield is on routine surveillance when she spots, outside his house, a dead man in a car. The locks had been sealed with superglue and Claude Huddart's face has been mutilated. As with most murders, there's a jigsaw puzzle to be solved. But here the pieces don't fit. Why is an informant, Jeremy Dince, if that is his real name, being almost exceptionally polite and helpful? And there's just something that doesn't feel right about the grieving Alice Huddart. For Sharon, pub and clubs remain the best potential source of information where an over-the-top and aged Ronald Blenny attempts to pick her up on the pretext of sharing some information about the killing. Then there's the younger and more sinister Philip Otton, acquaintance of the bereaved Alice, and known to both Blenny and Dince. Sharon cannot fathom why she is being warned off and cannot work out the connection between the protagonists until her police officer boyfriend Luke drops strange hints about the case and about her commanding officers. The climax is swift, shocking and unexpected.Once again, Bill James has drawn a fiercely believable picture of police on the beat and the struggles they face.