Skellin Cottage is an oasis of peace and tranquillity. Miles from the nearest town, nestled far out in the English countryside, it's the perfect place for visitors who want to get away from the world for a while. And then one morning the cottage's latest tenant, Deborah Dean, is found brutally murdered. After several months of police inactivity, the cottage's owner Lord Martin Chesleford decides to take matters into his own hands. Hiring former police officer Joanna Mason, who now works alone as a private investigator, he demands that Deborah's murderer is brought to justice. But while Deborah had tried to isolate herself at Skellin Cottage, she'd already begun to attract attention. Terrified of her own past, Deborah lived a life of fear, desperately afraid that the truth would one day be revealed. And as the ongoing investigation uncovers old secrets and new rivalries, another murder is right around the corner.

Fifteen years ago, Rachel Stone was snatched from her crib in the middle of the night. Now she's back. Or is she? Called in by concerned family members, private detective Jo Mason has to determine whether Rachel has really returned, or whether she's actually an impostor trying to rob her wealthy family of millions. As she starts to investigate, however, Jo soon discovers that the Stone family harbors more than its fair share of dark secrets. Who stole Rachel from her crib all those years ago? Where has she been ever since? What happened to her uncle Jack, and why does the sound of a crying baby sometimes ring out at night, haunting her parents' home? Is the ghost of a dead child trying to warn her relatives of a terrifying deception? Or, as Jo soon comes to suspect, was the disappearance of Rachel Stone just one part of a massive lie that has lain hidden ever since?