after the horrors of war against the forces of napoleon and the hardships of guarding convicts in australia, ex-soldier gregory hardiman is enjoying the quiet life of an ostler at a cambridge coaching inn, with only the occasional nightmare to disturb his sleep, and memories of lost loves to disturb his waking hours. but when the inn's cook is found drowned in the river in the spring of 1825 and his distraught widow pleads for help, gregory finds himself caught up in the unexpectedly murky world of college life in the town. as fine wines and precious artworks disappear from st clement's college, he navigates uneasily between the public world of the coaching inn and the hidden life behind the high walls of the college. and when a new law requires the university to create a cadre of constables, will gregory take on the challenge?