Combe Island off the Cornish coast has a bloodstained history of piracy and cruelty but now, privately owned, it offers respite to over-stressed men and women in positions of high authority who require privacy and guaranteed security. But the peace of Combe is violated when one of the distinguished visitors is bizarrely murdered. Commander Adam Dalgliesh is called in to solve the mystery quickly and discreetly, but at a difficult time for him and...

Returning to England only to discover that his role at the Metropolitan Police has expanded to include the Special Irish Branch, Joe Sandilands struggles with regional terrorism while clashing with a Russian princess who is running a spy network out of Kensington.

"A peaceful Welsh village is thrown into turmoil when a terrified boy discovers a body in the river. The man appears to have fallen from the canal aqueduct spanning the valley. But there is no identification on the body. The local police turn to Scotland Yard for help."--