Inspector Thanet's daughter is a week away from her wedding and in the midst of flurried preparations he is called to investigate the suspicious death of Jessica Manifest. Found by her husband on their stairs with a broken neck it almost could have been an accident - except for the mysterious phone call for an ambulance. Thanet and Lineham uncover several suspects, whose tangled dealings with Jessica gave them all valid motives. Since her husband's redundancy, she had started an affair with a local estate agent. His wife had found out so he had just, reluctantly, ended it. Years before, she had had an affair with her brother-in-law, who fathered her daughter Karen. Brought up as their own, Karen had just discovered her true parentage. And her neighbour's son, himself adopted, has reason to believe that Jessica may be his real mother. Thanet has a handful of suspects, but whodunnit?