When Jamie McIver, a dedicated pathologist, agrees to fill in for an old family friend in Bristol, she discovers she may have underestimated the difficulties. Unexpectedly, she is thrown together with Shaun Seaton, DCI of the local CID, who immediately stirs up all kinds of conflicts with his abrasive manner and contradictory appeal. Against the shadowed backdrop of drugs, sexual depravity and the Bristol underworld, Jamie and Shaun combine forces to search for a serial killer, working against the very real certainty that as they search for him, he is searching for his next victim. Should they warn the city that young women are in great danger and risk driving the killer into hiding? Or work quietly behind the scenes and trust that they have made the right decision? In the race against a depraved killer, either choice may well mean that someone will die. What neither of them realise is that the someone might well be Jamie...