It tells the story of Adolfo Novak, patriarch of one of the most powerful families in the country, who gathers his family and close friends to celebrate his 80th birthday.
Behind the toasts and smiles lie decades of secrets, betrayals, blind loyalties and a strong desire for revenge. The evening will end up blowing up and revealing a truth that, when finally comes to light, will be much more unexpected and surprising than any previous suspicion.
Morse and Lewis investigate the death of Laura Poindexter, an American tourist who is part of an exclusive tour group visiting Oxford. Missing from her personal effects is her jewelry, including the Wolvercote Tongue which she was going to donate to the Ashmolean Museum. The pathologist determines that she died of natural causes, but Morse feels there's something not quite right. The mystery deepens when Theodore Kemp, the Ashmolean's expert on the Wolvercote Tongue, is found dead and Mrs. Poindexter's husband goes missing.
