In his family life Angus Stonefield had been gentle and loving, in business a man of probity, and in his relationship with his twin brother, Caleb, a virtual saint. Now Angus is missing, and it appears more than possible that Caleb a creature long since abandoned to depravity has murdered him. Hired to solve the mystery, William Monk puts himself in Angus s shoes, searching for clues to the missing man s fate and his vicious brother s whereabouts. Slowly Monk inches toward the truth and also, unwittingly, toward the destruction of his good name and livelihood.