Chief Inspector Wexford can no longer bear to look at the natural beauty of Framhurst Great Wood, just outside his beloved town of Kingsmarkham, as it will soon be despoiled by the construction of a new highway. Wexford rather despairs of the project; his more sanguine wife, Dora, is active on a committee to save the threatened land. Others are more desperate to achieve their end, and their means include the taking of hostages, including Dora, and the threat to begin murdering them.

Wexford and his dedicated team of police officers race against time to learn the identity of the kidnappers and discover the whereabouts of the hostages. But this mortal drama raises politcal and moral questions that are not resolved with the closing of the case and apply far beyond the limits of Kingsmarkham.