Broughton Sea’s End is the end of the line, a lonely seaside village slowly being destroyed by coastal erosion. A team of archaeologists studying the erosion comes across human skeletons buried below Sea’s End House, the fortress home of eccentric local MEP Jack Hastings.

Forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway is called in to investigate. Ruth has just returned to work after the birth of her daughter and is finding it hard to combine work and motherhood. Ruth discovers that the bodies date from the Second World War.

This means a police investigation is needed, which means that Ruth will come face-to-face with Detective Inspector Harry Nelson, something she has been trying hard to avoid. Ruth and Nelson start to uncover the secrets of the war years at Broughton Sea’s End and it soon becomes clear is that someone is still alive who will kill to protect those secrets.

Trapped at Sea’s End House is a snow storm, Ruth and Nelson realise that the danger is very close indeed. Their only hope lies in Nelson’s colleague Judy and a local druid named Cathbad....