Having retired from the CIA, Avery Whitaker lives happily in the ordered serenity of the elegant home that he has inherited, and keeps tropical fish. Then, at two in the morning, his younger sister Estelle falls at his door mute with shock and wearing only a thin, blood stained nightgown. Soon, a conspiracy fueled by malice and greed envelopes Avery, bringing him closer to death than he has ever been. In a previous novel, NEXT TO HEAVEN, Avery Whitaker meets Jane Culwell while living temporarily in his sister's townhouse. Jane senses that why Avery has moved there is a longer story than what he has told her. However, she is weary, and hopes that hearing it will not be the price for a cup of tea and a telephone call. DISCOMFORT AND UNREASONABLE IMPOSITION is that longer story, which Jane did not hear that day.