Lynley and Havers investigate the death of a former war photographer, now paparazzi Peter Rooker, who is found beaten and shot in Soho, London. The mystery leads them from tabloid newspaper mogul Eddie Price and editor Melissa Booth to a 1995 massacre executed by the Serbian militia in Bosnia.

When Lynley asks his wife Helen to assist him with unlocking the psychological history behind the killing, he sets in motion a tragic trail of events.