(, New edition)

Three women die of ostensibly unsuspicious, unrelated deaths. But when Chief Superintendent Richard Jury joins forces with Divisional Commander Brian Macalvie and amateur sleuth Melrose Plant, they discover a more sinister connection. A link between the women takes Jury all the way to Santa Fe.

Five years ago in Cornwall, two children disappeared from their beds and were found mysteriously drowned. When a woman is murdered nearby, the police look for a connection between the deaths. Melrose Plant, renting the children s empty home, is caught up in the inquiry, and soon Richard Jury arrives to investigate.