There's a serial killer on the loose in north-east England. Four bodies have already been discovered. A fifth girl, Michelle Summers, has just disappeared.

When a body is discovered, everyone fears the worst. But this isn't Michelle - this corpse has been dead for over fifty years.

Out-of-favor DC Ian Bradshaw is pulled off the main case to investigate the skeleton. But it soon becomes clear that dark secrets lay buried along with the body - and now the police have more than one killer to worry about...