Detective Inspector Fenella Sallow is obsessive about her work and driven by her own demons. When the body of a retired artist is discovered atop the blackened embers of the town bonfire, the community is rocked to the core. It falls to DI Fenella Sallow and her team to find out how she came to be there. In her 50s, the veteran detective inspector thought she had seen it all. But behind the curtained windows and closed doors of the idyllic Cumbria coastal setting lurks pure evil.

When the chief suspect in the notorious "peekaboo cop killer" case blew himself up, almost taking lead investigator DCI Duncan Bone with him, the psychologically damaged detective thought his days on the force were over. But, when another PC is abducted and murdered in the same deranged peekaboo fashion, Bone is persuaded to return to lead the new investigation.

Quint Adler is a small town crime reporter with bigger aspirations. Stuck in a hospital bed on his 40th birthday, he overhears a conversation that arouses his suspicions. Sensing an opportunity, Quint starts his own investigation, bypassing local law enforcement in the process. His inquiries lead him to the scene of a savage murder. And then a second one, even more barbaric in nature.

When a landslip on Pembrokeshire’s stunning coastal path reveals the harrowing remains of two bodies, ex-DCI Evan Warlow’s quiet retirement is shattered.

A wealthy businessman approaches Jack Morgan, head of Private—the world's largest investigation agency—with a desperate plea to track down his daughter and grandchildren, who have disappeared without a trace. What at first seems to be a simple missing persons case soon escalates into something much more deadly, when Jack discovers the daughter is being pursued by highly trained operatives. As Jack uncovers more of the woman's backstory, the trail leads towards Afghanistan—where Jack's career as a US Marine ended in catastrophe.