Peter Maxwell is accustomed to murder investigations around Leighford, but this time the victim is found inside his own school. Inspectors are examining the staff and classrooms when the lead inspector is discovered in the school office with a skewer through his neck. Suspicion falls on headteacher James Diamond, a man Maxwell dislikes but does not believe capable of the killing.
Working alongside DS Jacquie Carpenter, Maxwell begins questioning the inspectors rather than being judged by them. A second murder confirms that the first was not an isolated act and leaves the school facing a killer with access to its corridors. Maxwell must identify the connection between the victims before another inspection ends in another death.
