What happened to little Mary? Eight years ago, the town was sure they knew: Benny, a boy with a metal plate in his head, who also disappeared. When another little girl vanishes, the squad investigates, but Pascoe is sidelined by his daughter's meningitis. Mary's bereaved family adopted Betsy (now called Elizabeth), now a well-known singer, has come home to sing a requiem for Mary. Townspeople claim to have seen Benny; his aunt had a visitor asking about money close to her death; Betsy's fathers (birth and adopted) and even little Rose Pascoe are crucial witnesses.
Over 30 years into her sentence for the murder of her lover's wife, Cissy Kohler claims to have been coerced into a false confession. When released, she's in protective custody while Dalziel and his comatose ex-boss are investigated for their roles in the conviction.
The drugs-related death of a young man who lapsed into a coma at a rave club attracts the interest of Dalziel and Pascoe. As the detectives investigate deeper into the rave club they discover that the club is owned by intense, inseparable twins Nicholas and Sophie Richmond, and financed by their seemingly benign Uncle Henry, a maker of perfume. This bizarre trio cause problems enough for Dalziel but he comes under more pressure when, during a drugs raid, he arrests the son of his ex-wife Mary Waddell. Following another strange rave murder, the duo are forced to dig even deeper into the private lives and motivations of the diverse group of suspects surrounding these murders with some startling results.
Dalziel goes to The British Grenadier to console the pub's owner Stella, who has just had a serious fight with her husband. Suspecting her of infidelity, Stella's husband returns with a gun, and takes his wife, Dalziel and a number of patrons hostage.