When last seen alive, sixteen-year-old Deborah Harrison was on her way home from school. Not long after, her body is found in the local cemetery. A suspect is apprehended and put under lock and key, but Detective Chief Inspector Banks is not convinced. There are too many loose ends: a vicar, accused of sexually harassing a refugee worker, who lies about his whereabouts at the time of the murder; a schoolteacher with a dark secret; a teenage thug who has threatened Deborah and her family with violence. And what about Deborah's own secrets?

In this haunting novel, award-winning author Peter Robinson explores the themes of guilt and innocence, family secrets and family love, loss of faith and redemption.