The villagers of Withens are dying. Emma Renshaw vanished two years ago, her body never found. Now her former housemate has been bludgeoned, his remains discovered near a deserted railway tunnel. Is there a link between the two?

While Detective Sergeant Diane Fry focuses on Emma's possible murder, her colleague Ben Cooper investigates a series of burglaries. Only one family seems exempt: the Oxleys. Descended from workmen who built the ancient tunnels beneath the village, they stick close to their own- and keep their secrets closer. Caught in the tangle of death and deception are Cooper and Fry. Their personal history and professional relationship have blurred before, and will again, as their cases converge in the most unsettling ways. . . .