Publisher's Synopsis
A man drowns and another dies in a motorbike crash. Two accidents, yet in a pair of so called dialogues sent to the Mid-Yorkshire Gazette, apparently as entries in a short story competition, someone seems to be claiming responsibility for the deaths. But when the story is leaked and a third indisputable murder takes place. Dalziel and Pascoe find themselves playing a game with no rules against an opponent known only as the Wordman.