Cheverell Manor is a beautiful old house in Dorset, which its owner, the famous plastic surgeon George Chandler-Powell, uses as a private clinic. When the investigative journalist, Rhoda Gradwyn, arrives to have a disfiguring facial scar removed, she has every expectation of a successful operation and a peaceful week recuperating. But the clinic houses an implacable enemy and within hours of the operation Rhoda is murdered.
Commander Dalgliesh and his team are called in to investigate a case complicated by old crimes and the dark secrets of the past. But Before Rhoda's murder is solved, a second horrific death adds to the complexities of one of Dalgliesh's most perplexing and fascinating cases.
She spent 30 years in various departments of the British Civil Service, including the Police and Criminal Law Department of Great Britain's Home Office.
She has served as a magistrate and as a governor of the BBC. In 2000 she celebrated her 80th birthday and published her autobiography, "Time to Be in Earnest. "
The recipient of many prizes and honors, she was created Baroness James of Holland Park in 1991.
She lives in London and Oxford.
