Having had his retirement snatched from him by malfunctioning technology, Peter Maxwell is still at Leighford. When a colleague falls down stairs, Maxwell runs the Year Eight Getting To Know You trip to the Isle of Wight, families welcome and so the Maxwell family go on holiday. The sun shines, the natives are friendly and even the kids are not too demented. Then the wife of the Head of Art, goes missing. There is no note, no sign of a struggle. Hampshire police gladly hand it over to Henry Hall, as his DS was more or less on the scene.

The discovery of the woman’s body on an Island beach a few weeks later bonds the Forces once again. But by this time, Henry Hall has another murder on his hands – the Head of Art is also dead. Maxwell realizes that there are links to be found between these deaths and others. He knows the reason, all he has to find is the murderer. Love of money is the root of all evil and in this case has led murder. Maxwell’s knows the importance of traditions and patterns and how history, especially family history, can have consequences almost beyond imagining. Putting two and two together, he finds himself on a Mediterranean beach, facing a very odd adversary indeed – will Maxwell survive to apply for retirement again?