In "Blood Relations", the first story in this collection, the tranquility of a small bucolic community is shattered by a young woman's discovery of her step-father's brutally beaten body. The woman adamantly denies knowing the identity of the murderer, but Chief Inspector Wexford remains steadfast in his belief that his primary suspects include the man's own family. Wexford patiently unravels the skein of events revealing evidence of spousal abuse, infidelity, avarice, and betrayal. In "Burning End", a woman unfairly burdened with the duty of nursing her bedridden mother-in-law discovers a fire hazard in the old woman's farmhouse. Then fate steps in and teaches a hard lesson about the sometimes fickle injustice of guilt.