Max Tudor thought he'd left the world of deceit when he resigned from MI5 to become an Anglican priest.

Then his bishop asks him to return to his Oxford college, St Luke's, to investigate the death of its chaplain, and Max realizes there's no leaving the past behind.

At first, Max agrees with the official police verdict of death by natural causes.

The Rev. Ace Graybill was as harmless a man as ever lived. It's difficult to see how he managed to cross anyone capable of murder. And the suspects are all above reproach: the celebrated Principal, the cautious bursar, the wise librarian, and a raft of benign students and academics.