Famous footballer Byron Fullard returns to his parents' home in Cumbria looking forward to indulging his passions for running and history and to spending time with his best friend, Johnny Hampson. His only concern is Johnny's uncertain relationship with the beautiful but enigmatic Nicky Reed, whose deep bond with Simon, one of her twin brothers, borders on the obsessive. But Simon's apparent suicide is the catalyst for the kind of spiralling violence that might be expected in Manchester, where Byron plays for the mighty Manchester United, but never in tranquil Cartmel, nestling as it has for centuries in the shadow of its glorious Priory. Johnny's father, Ed, a detective in the local police force, struggles to understand the mayhem suddenly consuming the quiet backwater as he desperately tries to discover the murderer before more lives are lost. A secret room, a selfish mother, family rivalries, a hooded stranger and Nicky's extraordinary behaviour all stretch Ed's imagination to its limits before he solves the case in dramatic style....or does he? Only echoes from the past and some startling revelations can bring final resolution and enable Cartmel to resume its ancient peace and beauty.