Was the wrong man hanged for a young woman's murder, or is a copycat killer on the loose? DCI Henry Johnstone and DS Mickey Hitchens must crack a darkly complex case when the community close ranks.

1930, Leicestershire. Everyone in the quiet market town of East Harborough is convinced that local miscreant Brady Brewer is responsible for the brutal murder of Sarah Downham. Despite Brewer's protestations of innocence, and his sister's pleas for help from DCI Henry Johnstone and DS Mickey Hitchens, Brewer is convicted and hanged.

Two weeks after the hanging, a farmworker finds the body of another young woman less than a mile from where Sarah was found - and there are other disturbing similarities between the two murders. Is a copycat killer on the loose, or was Brewer innocent after all? Where is the missing yellow dress that Sarah wore the night she was murdered? As the locals close ranks, Henry and Mickey soon discover that reputations - and the truth - are all on the line . . .