The Peverell Press is losing money. The two-hundred-year-old independent publisher is still housed in its dramatic mock-Venetian palace on the Thames, but its ruthless new director, Gerard Etienne, wants to move to cheaper offices as part of his plan to save the company.

Before he can push through any ambitious changes, though, he is found murdered, his body bizarrely desecrated. Commander Adam Dalgliesh soon finds that the director had a host of dangerous enemies: a discarded mistress, a neglected and humiliated author, rebellious colleagues, disgruntled staff. But did any of them hate Gerard enough to kill him?