In a small village on the incomparable Roseland Peninsula of Cornwall sits an old round house by the sea, beloved home of the Baxter family--relative newcomers to this lovely land. The close-knit farming community has been kindly, and has taken the new arrivals to its heart. But then a murder takes place. The body of a teenage girl is washed up on the beach, discovered by the Baxters' younger son.

DCI Channon--quiet compassion masking a clever mind--is the investigating officer on the case. His assistant, Sergeant Bowles, is his very opposite: abrasive, cynical, and keen to pin the crime on Luke, the Baxters' older son.

And so a violent crime changes the lives of everyone it troubles. Sally Baxter finds herself protecting one son and fighting for the other, while trying to fathom her husband's odd attitude toward the murder. Then there are the devastated parents of the murdered girl and the wide mixture of reactions from their farming neighbors. And through all the mayhem, there is DCI Channon, trying to make some sense of a seemingly impossible task as he finds himself increasingly drawn to the family at the round house, and especially to Sally herself.