Ingrid Langley and her husband and colleague Patrick Gillard, late of MI5 and now working for the Serious and Organized Crime Agency, decide to holiday in Bath. It may be close to home, but they both badly need a break. The holiday proceeds sedately enough, but trouble - their old friend - is never far away. Ingrid tries not to feel jealous when they bump into Patrick's old flame, the beautiful Alexandra Nightingale, and he agrees to help her house-hunt. But when Ingrid joins them on a viewing she makes a very gruesome discover indeed.