He had to be killed urgently - if he suffered, all the better. If the blame could be shifted to someone else, so be it.

A murder in a private home is quickly and easily solved by the police, their culprit established by fingerprints on the murder weapon: a jar of poison. The private care nurse neither denies nor admits to it. A clear cut case - but one detective isn’t sure. John is an experienced Metropolitan Police detective with a chequered background and a laissez faire attitude who is knocked back when he is suddenly teamed with Alison, a prim young Sussex officer who is out to learn as much as possible in her ambitious pursuit of senior rank. With different approaches to the case and influences from various people, the two must learn to work together in order to bring the true killer to justice. Can Alison trust John? Can John shield Alison for what is to come? And are more laws about to be broken when a nefarious crime lord learns from a highly placed mole that their lucrative way of life is about to come to an end?

The reader is led through the ongoing investigation of an apparently solved, simple murder that transpires to be anything but. Twists, turns and clues abound but may not necessarily lead to the expected conclusion. Readers who enjoy thrilling crime books along with baffling mysteries will delight in this novel.