Commander Adam Dalgliesh is asked by a friend, Home Office Minister Sir Paul Berowne, to be aware correspondence of a personal nature he's received. He's not being blackmailed and so there's nothing to investigate per se and he only wants Adam to keep an eye on what's going on. Sir Paul's personal life is somewhat complicated. He lives in the shadow of his late brother Hugo and has little time for his wife Barbara who is having an affair with Stephen Lampart. She is now pregnant but insists that the child is his. He's fed up with it all and decides to chuck it all in. He's not only going to resign from the Cabinet and Parliament but has decided to cancel his investment in Lampart's medical clinic and sell the family home. While on an outing, one of the Berowne family servants, Diana Travers, drowns. At New Scotland Yard meanwhile, Dalgliesh is putting together a new squad and asks Inspector Kate Miskin to join the team.

—garykmcd