A nice girl from the 'right' sort of church going family shouldn't get pregnant in 1950s England. But when they do it is seen as good form to leave their child in the care of the catholic church who collude with the government and send him off to an uncertain future in Australia.
Sixty years later, a nice middle-class couple in Cheshire with two grown-up children and a thriving business try to ignore that their son, a local doctor, is gay. The mother has a close association with the local Catholic Church where she's housekeeper to old family friend Father Brendan O'Donnell. Meanwhile an inmate at Strangeways prison in Manchester with a strong Australian accent is opening up his soul to a psychologist prior to his release.
As she begins to investigate a series of murders, DCI Sara Hoyland quickly becomes aware that a killer is targeting the family and associates of the nice middle class couple in Cheshire.
The prejudices of 1950s society have dramatic and tragic consequences for the intrepid detective as she attempts to get to the bottom of a very modern murder mystery.