December 1930. Craynebrook has endured a year of violence and scandal; the town, and the police, need a peaceful Christmas. But the discovery of two bodies in a respectable middle-class home shatters any hope of respite.

Detective Inspector Matthew Stannard takes the case, though he's barely functional. A vicious attack months earlier left him scarred in more ways than one, and now he's isolated, exhausted and for the first time in his career wondering whether he can see a murder investigation through.

Then an Essex detective arrives, insisting Matthew helps him hunt a child abductor who's been evading capture for years.

But Matthew's in no mood for cooperation, and when this outsider starts meddling in his murder investigation, a confrontation becomes inevitable.