Three lives converge...Charles, a respected professor of History, is writing a book on a Victorian crime of passion. Lotte is unhappily married to Gordon, a bully of a man who has reduced her self esteem to an almost irretrievable low. She stays for the sake of the children, but when she finds out he has been having an affair that is no longer reason enough. Annie Taylor has been newly promoted to Detective Inspector, but has had to move from the Met to the provinces in order to get the job. She is under pressure to perform, her team are antagonistic, her personal life a mess. Then a student disappears, Claire Thompson, one of Charles' tutorial group, a loner who has problems dealing with reality. DI Taylor heads the investigation and Charles finds himself in the frame for abduction. As he tries to prove the wrongful conviction of the protagonist of his book, Charles finds himself having to prove his own innocence. One person holds the key...As Lotte strives to become her own woman and Annie Taylor struggles to prove who she is, the answer is found in a silent voice, a voice that speaks from the grave.