As St Ives moves into early summer, Chief Inspector Louis Peppiat is handed the coldest of cold cases - the disappearance over thirty years before of local farmer Philip Trehearne. Merrin McKenzie, who crossed Peppiat's path in a case the winter before, is related to the troubled family and among his first ports of call. In an investigation that spans decades, unearths family secrets and uncovers emotional betrayals, the inner workings of the seemingly peaceful Cornish town are shockingly exposed.