Mid-winter, St. Andrews, Scotland: When a university lecturer fails to turn up for class, he is found dead at home, with evidence of having committed suicide.A female student reports to the police that she was having an affair with him and knows he would never commit suicide.Toxicology results turn up Class A drugs in his system, and DCI Andy Gilchrist and his associate, DS Jessie Janes, are called in to investigate. The initial enquiry soon turns into a murder investigation, and when Gilchrist and Jessie dig deep into the man's background they uncover a criminal past, a history of romance scams, and several bank accounts containing hundreds of thousands of pounds.A forensic search of the man's computer hard-drives reveal a lengthy trail of heartbroken women tricked into parting with their savings in a futile search for love.Did one of those scorned women seek revenge and kill him? Or did his criminal past finally catch up with him?