"On a chilly February day, two old friends meet in the throng outside a crematorium to pay their last respects to Molly Lane, who has died of a degenerative disease. Both Clive Linley and Vernon Halliday had been Molly's lovers in the days before they reached their current eminence. Clive is Britain's most successful modern composer; Vernon is editor of the quality broadsheet 'The Judge'. Gorgeous, feisty Molly had had other lovers, too, notably Julian Garmony, foreign secretary, a notorious right-winger tipped to be the next prime minister. In the days that follow Molly's funeral, Clive and Vernon make an euthanasia pact. Should either of them be stricken with such an illness, the other will bring about his death. Each will make a disastrous moral decision, their friendship will be tested to its limits, and Julian Garmony will be fighting for his political life"-