The first body comes as a shock, the second brings horror, the third signals the beginning of a nightmare. The Cumbrian community is small, tight-knit, and settle. When it comes to crime, everyone knows the victims. And everyone knows the criminals. So when three bodies are found in close succession in this small farming community, the world holds its breath. This was fifteen years ago. Since then, there have been more deaths, and the town is no closer to finding the killer. Emilia Hellier is twenty five years old.

She has grown up in the shadow of a serial killer, suffered the pain of her cousin'e(tm)s death, watching her father'e(tm)s hunt for him twist and change her family. Now she belongs to the same CID department. Now it'e(tm)s her turn to figure out who has cast such a shadow over their lives.