Endeavour's investigation into a number of untimely death notices in the Oxford Mail, each with a cryptic message, takes him to a series of funerals, then behind the curtain at a funeral directors', before forcing him to confront his own mortality. Thursday is facing more than one confrontation of his own, as his past closes in on him. There's trouble in the present to deal with first, and he resorts to desperate measures to protect those he loves most. At CID, as Strange looks set to transfer to Kidlington, and Bright eyes retirement; where will this leave Endeavour and Thursday?