Sarah Tucker leaves her ostrich farm and her live-in lover, Russell, to go to Newcastle to identify the body of a woman taken from the River Tyne. The wallet found on the body identifies her as Zoe Boehm. The police rule the death as a suicide. Sarah identifies the  woman as Zoe Boehm, but has difficulty believing Zoe to be a suicide. Zoe, an independent individual, would never feel despondent enough to commit suicide. When Sarah views Zoe's effects in the morgue she finds Zoe was clad in a jacket that had been stolen from her by Talmadge two years earlier.

Zoe, a private investigator, was obsessed with Alan Talmadge, a nondescript individual who wormed his way into a woman's life and then killed her, making the death seem natural. Sarah wonders whether Talmadge caught up with Zoe and murdered her.

Sarah is staying at the same rundown hotel as Zoe. There by coincidence she encounters Gerald Inchon, a former acquaintance and successful businessman. Gerald has one of Zoe's business cards with no reasonable explanation for this. Sarah is determined to continue Zoe's investigation of Talmadge. She begins to piece together Zoe's last days and her focus moves from Talmadge to Gerald as she becomes suspicious of what had been going on between him and Zoe.

This is a suspenseful, fast-paced story with a well portrayed cast of characters. The atmosphere of Newcastle is in keeping with the theme of the plot.