In a sprawling West Country port lies the insalubrious Stanley Street, a dubious cul-de-sac just off the busy main road. And when a prostitute is found naked and strangled in her bed there,
Chief Superintendent Wycliffe is called in to investigate. But things aren’t quite as straightforward as they seem. The victim, Lily Painter, is the kind of girl who liked Beethoven and had
plenty of fine qualifications to her name. The more Wycliffe investigates, the more surprises he uncovers. But it takes a dangerous arson attack and a second murder before the solution to
this diabolical puzzle can be found.