When a teenage islander goes missing on Burns Night, D.I. Duncan McAdam takes a strong interest despite the apparent lack of concern shown by the boy's father. When a woman's body is soon discovered in Talisker Bay, with a single stab wound to the chest, Duncan and his team realise they have a killer on the island.

A brutal winter storm is battering the island, and it soon becomes a race against time to find the missing boy. Is he hiding or is someone keeping him from coming home? As the team delve deeper into the lives of the teenager and the deceased, they come to the conclusion that nothing is quite what it seems and more than one person has a vested interest in concealing the truth.

A closely guarded secret, lying in a shallow grave for years, is under threat of being revealed and no one seems willing to face up to their past... least of all, Duncan McAdam himself. Duncan has a decision to make, one that will impact not only his life but the lives of those he cares about the most. Does he have the courage to follow his instincts? And just who is he acting in the interests of... the people he loves... or purely for himself?