Rendell's Inspector Wexford series has been going for almost fifty years, and in that time much about police work has changed, and the character of Inspector Wexford has --- sometimes reluctantly --- adapted to the times. More recently Wexford has had to adapt to retirement from active duty. He is still consulted by his former colleagues, even allowed to accompany them to crime scenes and interviews, but is keenly aware of the change in his status, that he can no longer issue orders, or compel people to answer his questions. Now he must use subtler means to make his points and influence the direction of an investigation. Now too he finds it more difficult to maintain professional detachment, and avoid personal involvement.
In this 24th book in the series, when the new woman vicar of the local church is found strangled in the vicarage, Wexford first hears the news from the voluable cleaning woman who discovered the body. Maxine Sams also happens to be the cleaning woman Wexford's wife employs, and Wexford is intrigued enough by the case (and eager to get out of the house and away from Maxine's endless chatter) to leap at the chance to tag along with the investigating officers. It seems the dead vicar had an unorthodox past (a single mother of mixed race with a teenage daughter) and unorthodox views (a reformer determined to modernize) that caused her to be controversial with her parishioners. The elderly church warden, Dennis Cuthbert, was particularly outraged by the Reverend Ms. Sarah Hussain, and strident in his opposition to everything she represented. Then there is Crisp, the jobbing gardener employed by the vicarage neighbors, whose misogynist and racist rants, proximity to the scene of the crime, and lack of alibi attract the attention of the police.
Wexford soon discovers that the paternity of the murdered woman's daughter Clarissa, a beautiful girl on the verge of her eighteenth birthday, is a mystery. He begins to wonder if the murderer was trying to prevent Sarah from keeping her promise to reveal the truth about her father to Clarissa on her birthday. Things become more complicated when Clarissa rents a room from Wexford's daughter and becomes involved in a relationship with Wexford's grandson. Patiently putting together the various pieces of this puzzle, Wexford begins to see a pattern emerging, but can he muster enough evidence to convince his one-time deputy, now in charge, to follow his lead?
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