A gunman is terrorising young women in the Cathedral town of Laffteron What - if anything - links the apparently random murders? Is the marksman with the rifle the same as the killer with the handgun? Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Serrailler falls back on well-tried police methods such as questioning neighbours and house-to-house searches He has been promoted and is now with the Serious Incident Flying Taskforce, but he is still at heart a loner and these chilly murders are on his home territory He tries to stay one step ahead of the killer, to prevent each new outrage And he tries to think himself into the gunman's head