Phoebe Bartlett, an attractive forty-something blonde, lives in a grand house in Filey with her wealthy jeweller husband, but she has turned the head of Jack Mason, the Scarborough FC striker, and prefers to spend exciting weekends with him. Family commitments prevent the pair from meeting over Christmas 1997, so when she doesn't answer his calls after New Year, Mason reports her to the police as a Missing Person. Phoebe's family insist that her lifestyle suggests that she has gone away on holiday with a friend, but is there a more sinister explanation? DI Bentley and his CID team at Scarborough need to unravel the web of lies and scanty evidence to get near to the truth. The bright young DC George Ryan has his own theories, however, and receives some help from an unexpected quarter. "Life is full of secrets", Ryan says, and there are more surprises waiting for him in his personal life. His search for love and romance lead to a clash with the Liverpool underworld, so can he come up trumps this time?