Billy Boyle takes leave at Seaton Manor in Norfolk, hoping to spend a few quiet days with Diana. The discovery of a crashed German bomber off the coast ends the respite: a dead British officer is found in the pilot’s seat, and a nearby intelligence centre holding senior German prisoners makes the wreck a security concern.
Billy is asked to investigate, but the aircraft’s reappearance is followed by the murder of a villager. Interviews across the surrounding community reveal wartime grudges, private arrangements and conflicting memories, forcing Billy to decide whether the killings arise from espionage, local revenge or an operation that began years earlier.
