Detective Inspector Charlie Priest s day hasn t got off to a good start. Late for work for the first time in twenty years, thanks to a sloe gin hangover, he s faced with the rather grisly evidence of a crime in the local park before a call comes in to say that one of his new constables has discovered a body. Hartley Goodrich has been found dead in his armchair, right beside the flowerpot that caused the gaping gash in his head. There s little doubt that this was murder, and when Charlie discovers that Hartley s financial advice had lost his clients a small fortune, there s no shortage of murder suspects either. But is the case all it seems? The enquiry re-opens an investigation involving diamonds, drugs and stolen gold bullion . . . and plenty of danger to boot."