As the first anniversary of the formation of the Kings Lake murder squad approaches, there's a problem—they’ve run out of murders. As a result, they are given the task of reviewing unsolved cold cases. One of these comes back to life in unexpected ways as the team tries to discover the identity of the young woman whose body was found in the Norfolk countryside two decades ago. And even if they can give her a name, how can they possibly find her killer after so many years?

When fourteen-year-old Zoe Johnson doesn’t come home on a Monday night in early December, the alarm bells in Kings Lake Central police station do not ring straight away – after all, she’s from the Dockmills, one of the toughest estates in the town. But for Detective Sergeant DC Smith, due to retire in just three weeks’ time, there are some strange echoes of the case that has haunted him for the past thirteen years. Maybe it’s simply his over-developed sense of irony, or maybe, in his final days as a police officer, Smith must look once more into the eyes of a serial killer. **

During DC Smith’s third investigation with the Diver and Diver Associates agency, they have been asked by a member of Norfolk’s aristocracy to look into the tragic death of her younger brother, Freddie, the late Lord Thorpe. The inquest verdict was of misadventure, but it isn’t long before Smith begins to suspect there has been a serious miscarriage of justice. 

“He saw a bare arm first, the hand palm up with fingers curled inwards. Then he stopped and took a few breaths. He could hear the two constables making arrangements before they separated, one saying he’d bring the other some tape from the car, and then it was just the summer morning quiet again.” Detective Sergeant Chris Waters got the call at 05.29 that July morning. This is it, said DCI Reeve, you’ll be first there, it’s all yours, you’re the crime scene manager. Suddenly, after months of waiting and wondering, Waters finds himself in at the deep end, and alone at the scene of a puzzling murder. As the investigation proceeds, the detectives at Kings Lake Central find themselves visiting familiar places and talking to some familiar faces, while old enmities reappear in the incident room. Before this is over, Chris Waters will need to make a career-changing decision, and another member of the CID team will find herself facing an unexpected challenge. And Smith? Gone but not forgotten? Surely, he would say, you cannot write me off with a worn out cliché like that… **

A big car pulls up. No one gets out. Then the doors of a bar nearby open and people appear. Two men and a young woman, and one of the men has a hold on the woman’s arm. It looks as if they’re having words. Then this all happens quickly—they push the woman towards the car, one of the back doors opens and they manhandle her inside. There's a muffled shout from the woman and the car pulls away. It’s all over in a few seconds.      It's just a few seconds—but seconds are all it takes to set in motion a sequence of events involving every member of the Kings Lake Central murder squad in the days to follow. And this time the threat is to one of their own. 

Life, as DC Smith used to say, is just one thing after another. As one investigation ends, a new one begins. But for reasons unknown to the rest of her team, DCI Cara Freeman will be haunted by the next case for the Kings Lake Central murder squad. They find themselves delving into the seamy side of life in the town, and one of their number will have departed before this new investigation is over. Perhaps Detective Sergeant Chris Waters should have seen it coming but he has a lot more than work on his mind these days. 

“He said if he hadn’t heard from you by high noon today, he was going to strap on his six-guns and ride back into town. So I think you should call him, Charlie. Call him before you come home.”      Charlie Hills, former desk sergeant at Kings Lake Central, is in trouble. He hasn’t told DC Smith, his old friend and sparring partner, but someone has, and now the two former policemen are about to embark on a difficult and potentially dangerous search for the truth. For one of them, it could be life-changing. 

Jo told him the phone call had been about a woman who wanted to have her husband declared dead. DC Smith is called by a woman named Amanda Fitch who wants to have her husband declared dead, but there's no body, no proof of death, and Smith does not want to get involved.     But on this occasion, Smith will have to investigate. The insurance company, which will have to pay out a very substantial amount of money if Amanda Fitch obtains her certificate of presumed death, has engaged Diver and Diver Associates to look into the disappearance of Gerald Fitch—more than five years ago now. As Jason Diver says, he has the very man for the job. All he has to do is to persuade that man to take it on. 

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