Four members of the Coverdale family died in the space of 15 minutes on St Valentine''s Day. Eunice Parchman, the housekeeper, shot them down on that Sunday evening while they were watching opera on television, and was arrested two weeks later. But the tragedy neither began nor ended there.
The Portobello area of West London has a rich personality - vibrant, brilliant in colour, noisy, with graffiti that approach art, bizarre and splendid. An indefinable edge to it adds a spice of danger. Eugene Wren inherited an art gallery from his father near an arcade that now sells cashmere, handmade soaps and children''s clothes. El barrio de Portobello, situada en el oeste de Londres, tiene una personalidad muy rica y distintiva: vibrante, colorida, ruidosa, llena de graffitis que podrian figurar en catalogos de arte, estrafalaria y esplendida Y posee un indefinible toque que le añade una pizca de picante peligro a todo ello...
Searching for truffles in a wood, a man and his dog unearth something less savoury. The body, as Chief Inspector Wexford is informed later, has lain buried for ten years or so, and the post-mortem can not reveal the precise cause of death. Wexford knows it will be a difficult job to identify the corpse. Although it covers a relatively short period of time, the police computer stores a long list of missing persons. People disappear at an alarming rate â€" hundreds each day. When another body is found nearby, the detection skills of Wexford, Burden and the other investigating officers of the Kingsmarkham Police Force are tested to the utmost to discover whether the deaths are connected and to track down whoever is responsible.
'He had never told anyone The strange relationship, if it could be called that, had gone on for years, decades, and he had never breathed a word about it He had kept silent because he knew no one would believe him None of it could be proved, not the stalking, not the stares or the conspiratorial smiles, not the killings, not any of the signs Targo had made because he knew Wexford knew and could do nothing about it'...
A by-pass is planned in Kingsmarkham - that will destroy its peace and the natural habitat forever. Dora Wexford joins the protest movement. But Wexford must be more circumspect. Trouble is expected. But before the protesters make their presence felt, the badly decomposed body of a young woman is discovered. Burden believes he knows the identity of the murderer, but Wexford is not convinced. Before this homicide inquiry can proceed much further a number of people disappear - including Dora Wexford, The Chief Inspector is both puzzled and bereft. Having also just become a grandfather, he cannot come to terms with the most powerful, familial passions until the case is resolved.
The trampled grass led to the body of Margaret Parsons. With no useful clues and a victim known only for her mundane life, Chief Inspector Wexford is baffled until he discovers Margarets dark secret - a collection of rare books, each inscribed from a secret lover and signed only as Doon. Who is Doon?
