A chilling event at the Royal Edward hotel on the night of Assistant Chief Constable, Alison Vosper’s leaving do forces Grace and Branson into a difficult position when they must investigate all hotel guests, including high ranking East Sussex police attendees. Something about the incident is causing a deep unease in Grace- he knows he’s seen this before. Has a sinister offender from Grace’s past dubbed the Brighton Prowler resurfaced or is this a copycat? As the attacks continue, Grace is convinced it’s the same man- and delving into the past may be the key to saving the next victim.

Grace and Branson are thrown into what is possibly their most disturbing and high-profile case yet, when an unsettling discovery of skeletal remains is unearthed by workmen digging up a path in central Brighton. Meanwhile, across the city that same morning, a victim is snatched in broad daylight. With no witnesses and no sign of who took her, Grace starts to suspect whether the victim’s fiancé is lying to the police.

When a known Brighton burglar is found dead in his car, in gruesome circumstances, his wife claims that he had turned over a new leaf, but all the evidence points to the fact the victim may still have been up to his old tricks and was breaking and entering on the night he was killed. As Grace and the team work to hone in on the circumstances leading to the victim’s death, Roy receives a call from a US police contact about a crime abroad which bears the hallmarks of a mafia hit. The police are keen to trace a woman they believe to be from Brighton, who could be in danger. As Roy scours the city to help find her, it becomes apparent he isn’t the only one looking for this mysterious woman.