Reginald Hill

Andy Dalziel had decided he would not be able to solve the disappearance of three young girls, and after twelve years, he finally forgot about it, but now children are vanishing again and Andy knows that the two cases are connected.

Chief Inspector Peter Pascoe, injured in an explosion that has left his partner Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel near death, ignores the pleas of his wife and his friends in order to pursue the truth about the cause of the blast which leads him to a mysterious group guided by the philosophy of fighting terrorists with terrorism, and that is apparently funded by people in high places.

Gina Wolfe travels to Mid Yorkshire to search for her husband, who is believed to be dead, and when she contacts Superintendent Dalziel to ask for help, events from several decades prior come to the surface and dangerous henchmen attempt to keep particular secrets in the past.