A DEGREE OF DEATH is the first in Bryan Lawson' series of Drake and Hepple mysteries. A member of the Singapore Parliament is found murdered on a footbridge in Chester. A DEGREE OF DEATH is a crime novel about the past sneaking up on the present and making a real mess of things. It is September 2005. Murky oriental history is entangled with events at Deva University in Chester, a brand new institution doing its best to invent tradition. But do these new ivory towers hide more worldly pursuits, and what really goes on behind the genteel facades in the historic city of Chester? DCI Carlton Drake is widely recognised for being as clever as he is tall and clumsy. He resumes duties after a sabbatical, taken for personal reasons, to investigate this diplomatically sensitive case. By contrast his high-flying young assistant Grace Hepple is stylish but inexperienced. Together they uncover an intriguing mystery. The investigation takes Drake to Singapore where he discovers that the past is never far from the surface in this modern metropolis. Chinese societies, illegal ivory trading, academic jealousy and raw ambition jostle together to create a confusing and dangerous cocktail.