Detective Inspector Charlie Priest's day hasn't got off to a good start. Late for work for the first time in twenty years, thanks to a sloe gin hangover, he's faced with the rather grisly evidence of a crime in the local park before a call comes in to say that one of his new constables has discovered a body. Hartley Goodrich has been found dead in his armchair, right beside the flowerpot that caused the gaping gash in his head. There's little doubt that this was murder, and when Charlie discovers that Hartley's financial advice had lost his clients a small fortune, there's no shortage of murder suspects either. But is the case all it seems? The enquiry re-opens an investigation involving diamonds, drugs and stolen gold bullion . . . and plenty of danger to boot.