When the body of a man is discovered in woodlands outside Manchester, a
ten-year missing-persons investigation can finally be filed away. But
this was no ordinary death: gagged, bound and buried alive, he was the
victim of a sophisticated and sadistic killer. And there is something
else that has the National Crime Agency puzzled. A single character
carved into a nearby tree.
Newly promoted to the NCA's Behavioural Sciences Unit, Senior
Investigator Joanne Stuart is determined to hunt down the perpetrator.
Just as Jo's investigation begins to reveal links with other
disappearances, there is another murder. This is no longer a cold case;
she is dealing with the escalating violence of a chilling serial killer.
Stepping into a sinister world of secrets, symbols and rituals, Jo will
have to confront the legacy of her own past and the violent memories
that lurk there if she is going to solve this case. But at what cost?