A wonderful story of love, intrigue and snobbery set in Ayrshire in the 1930s. Christine Summers is a pretty young teacher in a country school and the apple of more than one man's eye. But Christine has no intention of sacrificing her independence to marry anyone, least of all Charley Noonan, the rough-tongued..
The first message sent to Tom Thorne's phone was just a picture - the blurred image of a man's face, but Thorne had seen enough dead bodies to know that the man was no longer alive. But who was he? Who sent the photograph? And why? While the technical experts attempt to trace the sender, Thorne searches the bulletins for a reported death that matches the photograph. Then another picture arrives.