Private Lessons

Demand for private tuition has never been higher, and one operator seems to be doing very well out of it. One autumn Sunday, a jogger nursing a hangover stumbles upon a blood-covered body in Barnes Old Common Cemetery, a Gothic graveyard that was abandoned long ago and is often visited by drug users and heavy drinkers.

The dead man had spent the summer in Italy working for the wealthy Rivetti family, who appear to be concealing something. His bosses at the upmarket Forum Tutorial Agency seem to have secrets of their own. Why are his old friends, the people he was partying with the night before, so reluctant to talk when questioned?

Detective Inspector Garibaldi of the Metropolitan Police takes over the investigation. He is the force's only detective who does not drive, and he is a fan of country music. His first task is to untangle the complicated workings of the private tuition company, the Forum Agency.