When the dead body of a man is fished out of Glasgow's River Clyde the morning after an office celebration, it looks like a case of accidental death. An anonymous telephone call and a forensic toxicology test, however, give DCI Lorimer reason to think otherwise.

Probing deeper into the life and business of the deceased accountant, Duncan Forbes, a seemingly upright member of the community, Lorimer find only yet more unanswered questions. And when the firm's human resources manager is found dead in her riverside flat these questions become only more complex -- not to mention more disturbing. And Lorimer is having to cope not only with deceptions devised to hide the facts, but also with suspicions from those far closer to home...