
When Diana Beckett is found strangled, the community of Lower Denton is shocked. A hard-nosed businesswoman, she’d made enemies in a small town still remembering when, years before, the teenager Jennie Beasley disappeared. The local police are unhappy when DCI Barclay and his team are parachuted in.
This is a high-profile case with journalists descending on a town already on edge. Charles Mangrove of the Daily Herald sets his sights on Barclay’s scalp.
An opening appears in the Beasley case – Barclay’s instincts are to pursue it, but his team are unconvinced. Barclay wants to get justice for Jennie Beasley. The Inspector who ran the previous enquiry is being pushed into early retirement by the chief constable, who, it seems, has similar plans for Barclay.
People fear there is a maniac on the loose….
Then another woman goes missing….