Cameron Rutter drowned two months ago in a lake on a Cheshire moor. Some say a morgen—a spirit who drags men to a watery grave—was responsible. Others say it was the phantom Grey Lady. The police say Gareth Gynne was the guilty one. Whoever—or whatever—killed Cameron needs to be sorted out. And ex-police detective Michael McLaren is asked to do just that.

McLaren's not keen on delving into the mystery. The accused is the nephew of McLaren's nemesis, Charlie Harvester. And if there's one thing McLaren doesn't want to do is to associate with another Harvester, no matter what generation he is.

Suspects and motives seem nearly overwhelming. There's the opinion that a villager opposed Cameron's crusade to keep the moor in its pristine state, rather than develop it for the tourist trade. Equally as plausible is that someone Cameron had arrested came back to kill him in a vindictive attack.

Or was the morgen really responsible?

Can McLaren discover the killer, or will he too become a victim of the haunted water?