Bad things don't happen in the English Lake District's lovely Kentmere valley - most of the time. But when one neighbouring farmer is accused of rustling another man's Herdwick ewes, and a local feed merchant falls victim to an apparent phishing scam, Owen Irvine is reluctantly drawn into both cases. Aided and abetted by Cumbria Police's Farming Crime Specialist PC Kathy Stone - and with the reluctant help of DI Andy Hall - Irvine needs to move fast, if he's to avert a tragedy in the valley.
But when Irvine's none-too private investigations bring him into close contact with a vicious organised criminal could it actually be Irvine - and all those he holds dear - who will find themselves in the greatest danger of all?