The raven: not a particularly predatory bird, but far from soft and submissive, adopted as the symbol of a militant feminist group ... Detective Chief Inspector Wexford thought he was merely doing a neighbourly good deed when he agreed to talk to Joy Williams about her missing husband. He certainly didn't expect to be investigating a most unusual homicide. Rodney Williams was neither handsome nor wealthy - but he had an unerring eye for a pretty girl...

The tragic death of Manuel Camargue, Kingsmarkham's very own celebrity flautist, is met with a ruling of misadventure. But when, after an absence of 19 years, Camargue's entrancing daughter Natalie reappears, Dinah, his fiancee, goes to Wexford for help. Dinah believes Natalie is not who she claims to be. Wexford investigates.

Sarah Hussain was not popular in the community of Kingsmarkham. Born of mixed parents, she was also the Reverend of St Peter's church. But it came as a profound shock to everyone when she was found strangled in the vicarage. In his retirement, the former Detective Chief Inspector is devoting much time to reading, but when his old friend Mike Burden asks if he might like to assist on this case, Wexford is obliged to pay more precise attention to all...