Death has come twice to Ravenbank, a remote community in England’s Lake District, each time on Halloween. Just before the First World War, a young woman’s corpse was found, with a makeshift shroud frozen to her battered face. Her ghost, the Faceless Woman, is said to walk through Ravenbank on Halloween. Five years ago, another woman, Katya Moss, was murdered, and again her face was covered to hide her injuries. Daniel Kind, a specialist in the history of murder, becomes fascinated by the old cases, and wonders whether the obvious suspects really did commit the crimes. He spends Halloween at a party in Ravenbank only to find death returning to this beautiful, but isolated, spot. Once more, the victim is a woman, once more her damaged face is shrouded from view. The latest horrifying murder presents DCI Hannah Scarlett, head of the Cold Case Review Team, with the toughest challenge of her career. Is the case linked to the two earlier killings, and if so, what is the connection? Hannah has never had such a huge personal stake in solving a case, and it comes at a time when her private life is thrown into turmoil. Hannah and Daniel join forces as they try to discover who killed the Faceless Women. But before the shocking puzzle is solved, both of them must confront ghosts from their own past, as well as the ghosts of lonely and mysterious Ravenbank.