Great Norne is a small harbour town in East Anglia that once flourished with trade. Now the quiet community is being terrorised by a series of murders: the vicar, Reverend Torridge is found dead on the quayside; then Colonel Cherrington is shot in his study. A third death follows.

The last person to die violently in Great Norne was young Ellen Barton, who killed herself twenty years ago.

But there are secrets in this close-knit, religious town - secrets that might provoke someone to bloody revenge. The local police, under Chief Inspector Myrtle, must uncover those secrets, digging into the past, to solve the murders . . .