It sends a shiver down Detective Superintendent Alan Markby's spine when he hears that a rambler has stumbled on human bones in Stovey Woods in the heart of the Cotswolds. Twenty-two years ago, as a fresh-faced young inspector, he had a rare failure in the hunt for a brutal serial rapist preying on local women. After the third rape, the attacker went to ground, never to be heard of again. Now, with a new investigation prompted by the grisly remains,...

When lawyer Andrew Penhallow is found murdered the morning after Meredith Mitchell dropped a hitchhiker off at his estate, Mitchell and Markby find themselves investigating the past of Penhallow as well as the present