For years, a middle-aged, middle-of-the-road couple, Max and Amanda, had enjoyed each other's company in their modest home. With adult children, the two seemed to have everything they could want: health, some wealth and happiness. Until one day when they vanish, leaving behind no trace. Called in for the case, Detective Inspector George Hennessey, whose own life bespeaks horrible tragedy, automatically suspects foul play. His hunch proves a keen one when the bodies of the missing couple turn up in a shallow grave. But this macabre discovery is only the beginning of a case that will test the mettle of the entire police force. For one thing, no murderer would have killed them for their money since the couple had lost a small fortune right before their death. For another, the couple, apparently unbeknownst to the other, had been involved in illicit liaisons. For some reason, their only son has been acting strangely and to top these off, in the midst of the fracas a family secret arises. In search of a road to answers, Hennessey instead finds a maze littered with conflicting clues and misinformation. And instead of lacking any suspects at all, the detective finds there are all too many people who had wished the deceased couple harm.