Plot

Reeling from the loss of his former partner, Frost resigns from the force. But, he soon returns to investigate the suspicious death of a reclusive art collector.

Hazel Wallace returns from her training as the new Detective Sergeant. Supt. Mullett assigns her to sorting the mess left behind by DI Frost while he was on extended compassionate leave. Wallace's first case is a man found hanged in his home. She suspects the death was not suicide. A set of fingerprints at the scene belong to an unidentified man discovered drowned a year previously. Frost is summoned by Supt Mullett to sort things. He connects a painting that appears to have been stolen from the hanged man with an art robbery and murder several years earlier.—James D. Lankin

When Lester Bryce-Jones is found hanging in his apartment, newly promoted DS Hazel Wallace isn't convinced that it is in fact a suicide. Her suspicions are aroused even more when she learns that his expensive lifestyle doesn't quite match his income as a hospital porter. Although Jack Frost submitted his resignation after the death of DS Clive Barnard, Supt. Mullett actually placed him on extended compassionate leave and now asks him to return to active duty. Frost takes charge of the case and soon finds a connection to two of his old cases. The first, the Appendix Man, involved an appendicitis patient who walked out of hospital before his surgery and was subsequently found drowned in the river. The other dated from seven years previously and was known as the Black Farm Murders where a local landowner was killed and his valuable paintings stolen. Realizing they are all related in some way, Jack has the opportunity to close the books on all three cases.—garykmcd