Graham Shipley has come to the Cotswolds to take up a new teaching appointment and to make a fresh start after the break-up of his marriage. He is made welcome by the Head of St Monica's Preparatory School and by his new neighbour in Upper Benbury, crime writer Melissa Craig.
But shortly after his arrival a young girl is found drowned. Foul play is suspected and Graham's past threatens to catch up with him. In desperation, he turns for help to Melissa who soon discovers that this is not a simple case of murder - there are other more complex and sinister influences at work in the village.
