When Venetia Aldridge QC defends young Gary Ashe, accused of the brutal murder of his aunt, this for her is just one more case, one more opportunity to triumph in a distinguished career as a criminal lawyer. But Regina v. Ashe sets in motion a chain of events as terrifying as they are unpredictable. And when, four weeks later, Miss Aldridge is found dead at her desk in her Middle Temple chambers, a blood-splashed wig on her head, Dalgliesh and his team are called in to a case which promises to be as sensitive as it is intriguing.