Simon Meagor was a lonely middle-aged man. With a broken marriage behind him, his life was centred on his antiquarian bookshop. In his past was the memory of a murder trial where his evidence had resulted in the conviction of a man who had subsequently killed himself. Now, to his horror, the daughter of that man was applying for a job in his shop and, almost mesmerised by her, Simon found he was agreeing to her employment. Cleverly, over a period of time, Morwenna manipulated herself into his work, his life, and finaly into his flat above the shop. And then she disappeared.

When her body was discovered in a flooded quarry, at first suicide was considered. Morwenna was suffering from a fatal disease and perhaps she had taken her own life. But everything pointed to murder and, inevitably, suspicion fell on Simon Meagor.

Wycliffe became increasingly disturbed by a case which grew more and more complicated as he explored many dark and murky secrets from the past.