Peaceful Mickleburgh is the perfect English market town - or so it seems. In fact, it is a perfectly constructed facade, having successfully hidden the secrets of its inhabitants for generations. But the casual murder of a man trying to prevent an act of vandalism shatters the genteel appearance.

Parents are forced to consider whether their children could be involved, friends avoid each other's eyes, and partners word their conversations carefully. Somebody in the community is close to the murderer - someone with a past that threatens to resurface, bringing damage and devastation to a whole community.