Alexander (Sandy) McFarlane has just secured his new role as a DCI working for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London. Before long, he is asked to investigate the death of Robert Smythe, an accountant who has been auditing an aid grant to build a solar panel farm in Vadodara, India.

DCI McFarlane travels to India where he immediately suspects foul play. But he is up against local police who refuse to admit that Robert's death was suspicious. He soon finds himself embroiled in politics, battling the extremely wealthy and powerful Thakur family, the billionaires who had facilitated the British aid grant to build the solar panel farm, and in whose interest the local police are sweeping Robert's death under the carpet.

For a long time it seems he is fighting a losing battle and he is forced to leave India in disgrace. Can McFarlane get justice for Robert's family?