New Scotland Yard Commander Adam Dalgleish is asked to have a second look at the death of Ronald Treeves, a student at St. Anselm's seminary. He was killed when a sand dune collapsed and buried him alive and a coroner's inquest ruled that it was an accident but his father refuses to accept the verdict. St. Anselm's is located on a desolate stretch of the English coast and holds a special place for Dalgleish who spent many enjoyable summers there as a young teenager. His initial examination of the evidence reveals nothing but when the housekeeper who discovered Treeves' body dies suddenly, he begins to suspect that something is amiss. The internal politics of the school opens the door to many suspects, particularly as a visiting Church of England official may be seeking to close the school entirely. When a much-disliked cleric is killed, Dalgleish must determine if the motive is related to the school or the result of something more personal.