El aristocratico clan de los Moidore, una de las mejores familias de Londres, a cuya mansion de Queen Anne Street acuden los mas encumbrados personajes, nunca se habia visto envuelto en el escandalo. Ahora, sin embargo, la bella hija de sir Basil ha aparecido apunalada en su propia casa y la noticia corre de boca en boca por la ciudad. / Inspector Monk is ordered to investigate in a manner that will give the least possible pain to the influential family. But Monk, brilliant and ambitious, is handicapped by lingering traces of amnesia and by the craven ineptitude of his supervisor, who would like nothing better than to see Monk fail. With the help of nurse Hester Latterly, Monk gropes warily through the silence and shadows that obscure the case, knowing that with each step he comes closer to the truth.