A body is found in the Bodleian Library and further intrigue arises when stolen books are found in the victim's home.

Professor Cole is a respected German history professor. When he is found dead it emerges that he patronised an illegal boxing club. Could his death have been an underworld killing?

The suicide of a young member of a religious sect raises questions about it. Known as The Garden, suspicions change when more murders take place connected to it.

Oswald Cooper is the prime suspect in the rape of a teenage girl, but presents an alibi supported by three pillars of the community. When Cooper is murdered, Lewis discovers a web of deceit going back 20 years, in which the dead man was used by the trio to cover up a sordid series of secrets - but the case soon takes on a personal dimension for the inspector.