The 13th and final installment in the Inspector Morse mystery series depicts the slow demise of the famous detective as he investigates the murder of a woman from his past. Morse's life ends before the case is closed, leaving a heap of questions Sergeant Lewis is almost afraid to ponder. How did Inspector Morse know the woman murdered more than a year ago in the small village of Lower Swinstead? Why did Morse carry on his own personal investigation of her death yet decline the Chief Superintendent's request that he take on the case professionally? And did Morse, as Lewis suspected, withhold evidence from the murder scene? As the mournful Lewis untangles this tightly-woven murder case, he is left without a clue to the true character of his beloved former mentor.