A corpse is found in an old ice house ten years after Phoebe's husband goes missing. The police seem determined to accuse Phoebe of the murder, to the delight of the villagers.

As the police investigation of the body in the ice house grows more intense, one of the women at the Grange is subjected to a brutal attack.

As Detective Sergeant Andy McLoughlin examines the evidence, he begins to arrive at different conclusion to his superior. Just when he thinks he has got a confession, one further startling secret is revealed, one final revelation of murderous revenge that will finally melt the ice that has kept Streech Grange and its inhabitants frozen for a decade - the mystery of what happened to David Maybury.