When a body is discovered in a trench by the Old Rectory on Cyril Dacre's estate, Slider gets the call and goes to the famous historian's home. There, amid Slider's much-loved grand architecture, he learns that the victim's husband, builder Edward Andrews, had been hired by Dacre's daughter to do some work on the Old Rectory terrace. Did Andrews kill his wife and try to bury her under the repaired stonework? Everyone seems to think so. But Slider knows firsthand that, troubled as the Andrews's marriage was, it's a long way from quarrels to murder.

Filled with characters Slider fans have come to know and love -- the ever-witty Atherton, the colorful London police force, and Slider's complicated lover Joanna -- Shallow Grave is a complex and immensely satisfying mystery.