A body is found in a Leeds flat in a condition that defies explanation. What should have been a routine murder investigation quickly becomes something far more disturbing when Detective Inspector Stewart Gardener discovers that the victim was deliberately paralysed before death.
The killer is using a rare poison to leave victims conscious but helpless. Then comes the real horror.
As more bodies appear, Gardener uncovers a hidden world of betrayal, drugs, prostitution and long-buried secrets. Each clue suggests that the victims are connected by something they desperately wanted to keep hidden. But the investigation soon becomes dangerously personal when the case draws Gardener back toward the man responsible for destroying his own life.
Haunted by the murder of his wife and driven by an anger he cannot escape, Gardener knows that one mistake could cost another innocent life.
The killer is intelligent. Patient. And always one step ahead.
In Yorkshire, nothing stays buried forever.
Especially murder.