Eleven-year-old Mary McIntyre vanished without a trace forty-five years ago. The girl's disappearance tore the local community apart and a body was never found.

After the present-day discovery of a child's remains in a peat bog south of Glasgow, it seems the decades-old mystery may finally be solved. Called in to excavate the body, forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod uses the advances made in her field since Mary's vanishing to determine what really happened all those years ago . . .

One key person had been Mary's best friend Karen Marshall, who was devastated by her abduction. Questioned by the police at the time, Karen's answers had led to a dead end and the case soon went cold.

Now, the news of the discovered body brings the nightmares back. But added to that, memories long-buried by Karen are returning, memories that begin to show her role in her friend's disappearance and could perhaps even reveal the identity of the killer . . .

'Rhona MacLeod has become one of the most satisfying characters in modern crime' Daily Mail