During a blistering summer, drought has depleted Thornfield Reservoir, uncovering the remains of a small village called Hobb's End – hidden from view for over 40 years. For a curious young boy this resurfaced hamlet is a magical playground ... until he unearths a human skeleton. Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks is given the impossible task of identifying the victim – a woman who lived in a place that no longer exists, whose former residents are scattered to the winds. Anyone else might throw in the towel but DCI Banks is determined to uncover the murky past buried beneath a flood of time ...