Renowned businessman and philanthropist Sir Dan Blackwater is found dead in his house on the Isle of Wight. Spread-eagled on the kitchen table, his body has been mutilated and knives have been driven through his wrists and ankles. The only other person inside the locked house is his PA, Sheena Greeves.

Distraught and unable to remember anything that happened before her discovery of the body, she is DCI Charlie Trench’s prime suspect. But he knows too much about the ways of lawyers to charge her yet and brings in forensic psychologist Karen Taylor to unlock her memory.

But Karen’s work unlocks a lot more than a troubled mind, bringing to light some of the most unspeakable things one human being can do to another. And it will drive her into the hands of merciless thugs who will stop at nothing to protect their own secrets.