MARRIAGE CAN BE MURDER . . . Married couple Allegra and Brian are found shot dead in their luxurious converted-barn home on the banks of the River Richington. Detective Inspector Jack Dawes is called to investigate. It seems Brian shot his wife and then turned the shotgun on himself. Allegra was a hot-shot divorce lawyer, known to sleep around. She always described Brian as her 'starter marriage'. He was a music teacher whose colleagues refuse to believe he could have done such a heinous thing. Then disgraced magistrate Felix 'Butcher' Barrington is found hanged from a tree in Kings Copse. And forensic evidence connects him to the double murder of the unfortunate couple. Every time Jack starts thinking he's cracked this fiendish case, he uncovers a new tangle of secrets and lies. And now fungus hunters have dug out one more secret . . .