The creator of the acclaimed Detective Murdoch Mysteries turns her
exceptional storytelling skills to a murder mystery set in rural
Shropshire, England, in the darkest days of the Second World War.
Following the disastrous retreat of the British army from Dunkirk in
1940, England is plunged into a state of fear. The threat of a German
invasion is real, and many German Nationals are interned in camps across
the country. One such camp is on the ancient moor land of Prees Heath,
near the small town of Whitchurch in Shropshire, where Tom Tyler is the
sole detective inspector.
Young women from all walks of life have joined the Land Army, to help
desperate farmers keep the country fed. When one of these young women is
found murdered on a desolate country road, Tyler is almost glad for the
challenge; he has been fretting for some time about the dullness of
policing in a rural community. In addition, a former lover has
reappeared and turned his emotions upside down; his soldier son seems
utterly changed by his experience at Dunkirk; and his 16-year-old
daughter is unhappy. As he pursues the murderer, Tyler finds himself
drawn into an uneasy alliance with one of the Prees Heath internees, a
psychiatrist, who claims to be an expert on the criminal mind.
