Shipcott in bleak mid-winter: a close knit community where no stranger goes unnoticed. So when an elderly woman is murdered in her bed, village policeman Jonas Holly is doubly shocked. How could someone have killed and left no trace? Jonas finds himself sidelined as the investigation is snatched away from him by an abrasive senior detective. Also someone in the village is taunting him, blaming him for the tragedy, and watching every move he makes.