‘Ambulance and police. Something’s happened. I don’t know what. But my little girl–’ A sob choked off the sentence. ‘It’s my daughter...’

When young Nia Hopkins goes missing from her family’s farm on the icy outskirts of the Forest of Dean, the Gloucestershire police are convinced she’s been taken by the killer who stabbed to death Emily Risman eighteen years ago. They’re desperate to finally have the evidence to put him away. To save another girl before it’s too late.

But Detective Anna Gwynne thinks the press frenzy is making them obsess over the wrong man. He doesn’t fit the profile she’s been trained to see. This killer is sadistic. The suspect isn’t capable of that kind of crime.

And when Anna finds a link to other cold cases, she realises the killer is manipulating the police to cover up other unspeakable crimes.

With no one listening, Anna knows she’s the only one who can hunt down this serial killer. But if she goes out alone, is she putting her own life in danger?