It is 1932 and John Madden, former Scotland Yard Inspector, is now a farmer in the peaceful Surrey countryside. However his peace is about to be shattered, for when a young girl goes missing, it is he who discovers her disfigured body hidden in a wood. Disturbed by what he has seen he is convinced the killer has struck before … When a second body is found, Madden’s instinct is proved right - there is a multiple killer at large. Allying himself with his old colleagues, and against the wishes of his anxious wife, he immerses himself in one more case, and his insights into the personality of the man they are seeking are soon borne out. But he will have to stay one step ahead of a killer who is a master of reinvention, and who has been covering his tracks for many years. And soon significant links are discovered in Germany, where the Nazis are on the brink of power …