As DI Nikki Galena struggles to come to terms with the tragic death of her friend, a man is found on a piece of wasteland in Greenborough town. The manner of his death, a cold-blooded and professional execution, bothers her deeply, but not nearly as much as it bothers her sergeant, DS Joseph Easter. Joseph's life has been scarred by a terrible event in his past, something so awful that he has spent years coming to terms with it. Now, when it seems that everything is finally coming together for him, he realizes that the nightmare is seeping back, threatening his career, his sanity and maybe his life. Add to this a mysterious series of bizarre and unexplained suicides, and Nikki Galena finds herself locked in a battle to find what appears to be not one, but two brutal killers loose on the Fens.