Paddy Meehan is home alone when theres a knock at the door. Its the police and they have bad news. Former boyfriend Terry Pattersons naked body has been found in a ditch. Hes been tortured hooded then shot through the head: all hallmarks of an IRA assassination. Paddy is devastated: Terry was her first lover; the sort of journalist shes always aspired to be. But why have the police come to her? Although she and Terry have had an on/off affair since they first worked together she hasnt seen him for over a year. She is therefore horrified to find that not only has Terry named her next of kin but he has left her a huge Georgian house in Ayrshire and several suitcases full of notes. What was Terry trying to tell her? As Paddy begins her investigation into his death she realizes that if the secret he was about to expose was worth killing for she is next in line. From the Hardcover edition.