On a stormy night in Broadminster, DCI Neil Paget walks a young constable to her car in a dark parking lot. As she roars past on her way home, Paget is attacked from behind, his throat viciously slit from ear to ear. But for the grace of God he survives and is rushed to the hospital where he remains in critical condition, unconscious and perhaps ready to draw his last breath at any minute. Meanwhile, the precinct is in an uproar. Who could have attacked...

When scribbled notes written by a troubled teenager who committed suicide thirteen years ago come to light, Paget and his team reopen the investigation into a series of robberies that ended with the vicious killing of two people.

When Antonia Halliday is found dead in a barn, her head and neck slashed with an old-fashioned sickle, Paget and Tregalles attend the scene. The victim is from Bromley Manor, the country home of a highly respected family with links to the chief constable, and Chief Superintendent Brock warns Paget to tread carefully. With all the evidence drawing Paget back to the manor, he soon finds himself at odds with his superiors - and the killer is not quite...