In the ninth DI Christy Kennedy mystery Kennedy investigates the murder of a colleague whose 'the ends justify the means' work ethic created numerous enemies. An annual Halloween Bonfire goes horribly wrong when a body is spotted in the middle of the fire's glowing timbers. Identifiable only through his dental records, the victim is retired police Superintendent David Peters, an ex-colleague of DI Christy Kennedy. As Kennedy and his team settle down to a painstakingsearch through Peters' cases, they soon discover that for the superintendent the means justified the end in solving them, and each case they review throws up another suspect.