It's a fine day for a sail, and Victor Delahaye, one of Ireland's most successful businessmen, takes his boat far out to sea. With him is his partner's son, who becomes the sole witness when Delahaye points a pistol at his own chest and fires. This mysterious event immediately gains the attention of Detective Inspector Hackett and his sometime partner Quirke. The stakes are high: it soon becomes apparent that a terrible secret threatens several members...

When the body of his daughter's friend is brought to his autopsy table, Quirke is plunged into a world of corruption that takes him to the darkest corners of the Irish Church and State.--