Timeless, peaceful, and remote, the watery Lincolnshire fens seem an unlikely setting for murder. But two women - a notorious actress and a servant girl - have been killed there in the space of two weeks. The Lincolnshire police are sure the murders are connected - and they think a friend of Richard Jury is responsible. Jury is anxious to clear jenny Kennington's name. But the secretive suspects and tight-lipped locals are leading him nowhere. And with the help of his colleague Melrose Plant, he must struggle to navigate a series of untruths in the hope of stopping a very determined killer.