Synopsis:
Inspector Thomas Lynley is suave, sophisticated, and the eighth Earl of Asherton. Sergeant Barbara Havers is rumpled, resentful and working class, with a very low opinion of the highborn. Lynley and Havers are paired to investigate the beheading of farmer William Tey, found at the feet of his blood-spattered teenage daughter who is too traumatized to talk. Lynley also faces his own trauma, the recent marriage of his old girlfriend to his best friend and his new partner, Havers, who finds upper-crust cops detestable.