A routine missing person enquiry takes a grisly turn when a young couple drag a box containing human remains out of a Somerset river. The victim was a surveillance expert investigating an exaggerated injury claim—a murder with an obvious motive, until a police officer is implicated and suspended.

Still brooding after his recent brush with police Professional Standards, Detective Chief Inspector Nick Dixon is on extended leave, helping his pregnant fiancée, Detective Sergeant Jane Winter, fight for her place on the major investigation team.

Convinced that the death of an art student is connected, Dixon returns to duty, and when graffiti depicting the murders starts to appear, the race is on to find the artist and the murderer.

But, why the paintings? Could an infamous street artist be involved?

With colleagues questioning his every move, Dixon must stop a sadistic killer before another life is taken. Then a second art student is reported missing…