Detective Sergeant Jake Goodwin receives a call to head up the A15 to investigate a suspicious death near Hibaldstow. He discovers 29-year-old Rachel Barnard dead in an old rusty sheep trough. Rachel Barnard is a popular columnist on a local weekly newspaper in Lincolnshire, and her work has been more widely circulated by the owners. Her column is often investigative, pulls no punches, and whilst Rachel is a great supporter of women's rights, she can be critical of the way some of her gender spend their lives. The question is: Who has she investigated and exposed to such an extent that, in the end, murder is their only option?