Dalziel and Pascoe investigate the murder of American tourist Nancy D'Amato, whose body is found by squaddies out on a training exercise. As her overbearing husband Gus, a homicide detective from Boston, arrives on the scene, Dalziel is forced to try to keep him in the dark whilst discovering who is responsible for Nancy's death. Meanwhile, an old flame of Dalziel's, DS Jenny Etric, is assigned to help out on the case. As Dalziel tries to rekindle old romances, Spike discovers that Jenny has been less than truthful - her ex-husband is Charlie Stubbs who, in fact, turns out to be one of the prime suspects. As the case begins to unravel, Dalziel is also forced to deal with a sergeant who has been accused of bullying members of his regiment - and suspects he may be responsible for the murder of two soldiers. However, a bigger twist arises when the body turns out not to be Nancy's.
