When Francis Armstrong moves into his fussily designed Victorian house in the heart of the Vale of York, his August stretches before him in a haze of leisurely house refurbishment. His decision to move a pile of rubble, however, brings DCI Hennessey and Sergeant Yellich springing to the scene at the double.
Louise D'Acre helps them with the examination of the skeleton that has been uncovered, and everything seems to point to the murder of a woman who was reported missing 19 years previously. But they soon find themselves headed down a different road, investigating other unsolved disappearances that lead to a London villain who has a macabre way of punishing informers.
