In London, Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Hay of Scotland Yard heads up the investigation into the puzzling murder of a young Canadian woman travelling alone. Her killer was meticulous, leaving a serene-looking corpse and no clues. In Ottawa, RCMP Inspector Liz Forsyth searches for the murderer of a young Chechen woman, who was shot at the gates of the Russian Embassy. No one knows who would want to kill her, except, perhaps, the Russians.
The head of the Canadian High Commission’s trade section is found brutally clubbed and stabbed to death in the Official Residence in London, England. Scotland Yard’s Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Hay is called in to investigate, while RCMP Inspector Liz Forsyth is dispatched from Ottawa. There are a number of suspects from the diplomatic community: the High Commissioner and his beautiful wife, the smarmy head of the political section, the charming military attaché, the high-strung Deputy High Commissioner, and a deeply troubled engagements secretary.
