Twenty years after her brother Callum mysteriously vanished, Orla Payne is still haunted by his disappearance. The case was closed after her uncle’s suicide - the police believed he killed himself in the Hanging Wood out of guilt over murdering the boy, even though no body was ever found.

Daniel Kind recommends Orla contact DCI Hannah Scarlett, Head of the Lake District Cold Case Review Team, to see if she can discover the truth about what really happened all those years ago. Hannah doubts there is anything to be done on such a long-dead case, But when Orla is found dead, she reconsiders. Soon DCI Scarlett discovers that investigating the past can throw up some very dangerous truths indeed.