When animal activist Robin Challenor is found savaged to death inside the tiger cage at Latimer's Private Zoo, Dalziel suspects someone is responsible for murder, when forensics found at the scene don't match the injuries on Challenor's body. The case holds many memories for Dalziel, as Simon "Tiger" Harper, the lover of the zoo's owner, Guy Latimer, disappeared more than twenty-five years previously after being accused of murdering another local man at a dinner party. As old grievances again rear their ugly head, the death of assistant vet Maria Chan also reveals a sinister business of illegal organ transplants taking place at night, using innocent Chinese immigrants as donors in return for papers which grant them access to stay in the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, Pascoe is forced to come to terms with what he wants from life when ex-wife Ellie and daughter Rosie unexpectedly arrive.
