Frost investigates the murder of a teenage girl, and the case of a woman who has been receiving threatening phone calls. Meanwhile, at the Denton police station, there are threats, deaths, arson and a staff shortage.

Frost investigates two domestic cases. The first is the tragically straightforward murder of a cantankerous old man by his wife. The other is a more cruelly deceptive one, in which a man is killed, and his son and one of his daughters go missing: Frost tracks them down to Blackpool, where she has gone for an abortion - but who was the father? The answer leads him and DS Barnard into a tragic confrontation with an armed and dangerous paedophile.

A woman is found in a critical condition in a quiet village on the outskirts of Denton, a victim of an apparent hit-and-run incident. Her husband and daughter are distraught. Frost's investigation exposes the secret life of a corner of rural England.