The London detective returns to see a criminal kingpin put behind barsтАФonly to discover that his nefarious deeds are from over.
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NorthumberlandтАЩs usually unflappable Det. Chief Inspector Percy Peach has suddenly found himself on the anxious side. ItтАЩs not that the bust didnтАЩt go as planned. The raid on the sprawling country manor of a drug baron rounded up all the usual suspects. But only hours later, a converted stable on the grounds goes up in flames. In the ashes is the charred body of unassuming carpenter, Neil Cartwright. Peach canтАЩt help but think the fire is too well-timed and highly suspicious. So does his fianc├йe, Det. Sergeant Lucy Blake.
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But whom to question? All thatтАЩs left is the butler, the gardener, the cook, and an assortment of cagey housekeepers. Yet as each goes mum, Peach realizes that theyтАЩre less a staff than a gangтАФand the sordid secrets of the estate didnтАЩt end with the arrest of their boss. In fact, theyтАЩre only beginning to surface. And theyтАЩre nastierтАФand more dangerousтАФthan Peach and Blake can imagine.