Based on true events. Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Jack Whicher is sent to rural Wiltshire to investigate the horrific murder of a three-year-old boy.

When Whicher offers to help a country lady find her niece, he's drawn into a disturbing case of murder which brings him up against wealthy and powerful figures and throws him into conflict with his former police colleagues.

Whicher is hired by a powerful political grandee to investigate violent threats made against his son, who has recently returned from India with his young family.

A divorce case involving a landowner and his young wife spirals into something darker, drawing Whicher into the heart of the English countryside where he uncovers the most disturbing and destructive of secrets.