Adam Dalgleish visits his aunt Jane in a Suffolk writers’ colony, pondering next steps in his relationship with the woman he’s been seeing. As a poet-detective, Dalgleish has special insight into Jane’s neighbors: critics, playwrights, novelists, and one typist who works off and on for all them. When mystery writer Maurice Seton turns up dead in his boat, with his hands severed—exactly a plot point offered to him by one of his writer friends—Dalgleish tasks himself with shadowing the investigation of local inspector Reckless rather than deciding on next steps with Deborah. This novel has a cast of quirky characters, a wild coastal setting, and an exciting climax. A few too many characters make it a bit of a muddle, but still enjoyable.