Unnatural Causes plot
Commander Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard investigates the alleged murder of a well-known author who is found floating in a rowboat with his hands severed. The man, Maurice Seton, had recently been expelled from a private club after being caught photographing some of its members at the gambling tables. The club was suspected of laundering large sums of money and had been the subject of a police investigation for some time. The case becomes more complex when the autopsy reveals that Seton died of natural causes and that his hands had been removed postmortem. As the investigation progresses, there seems to be no end to the number of people who would have preferred Seton dead.