When the body of a respected member of the fictional village of Cranchurch is found abandoned in the boot of his own car, Detective Inspector Mike Strand calls upon his best friend and colleague, Dr Richard Stonefield, to assist with the murder investigation. Dr Richard Stonefield is a highly regarded forensic psychiatrist who lives and works in the village of Cranchurch and he is often called upon to assist the local police force with high-profile cases on a consultancy basis. As more murder scenes emerge and news of them spreads around the local area, fear begins to take hold as the race to capture the psychopathic serial killer becomes the sole goal of a new police taskforce. Armed only with grainy CCTV images of the person believed to be the serial killer, Mike and Richard must apply all of their skills and experience to steer the taskforce towards a successful result.