The village of Slyford St James is no stranger to supernatural happenings, as long-time residents Jed and Emma know all too well. When Jed receives a letter from an old friend, he is intrigued. Though he and Simon were like brothers during their army days, they have lost touch over the years. However, the invitation to the Pomeroy family estate isn't quite the reunion he was hoping for - Simon's eldest brother has been brutally murdered, and he wants Jed to use his connection to the dead to help solve the crime.

When they arrive at the estate, Jed is shocked by how fragile and fearful his friend has become. As Jed calls upon the spirit world, the results are dramatic, and a gruesome warning reveals dark and dangerous family secrets that threaten the safety of them all.

On the brink of a breakdown, two years after the death of his fiancée, Jim Hawkes quits his high-powered job in the City to rent a cottage in the Devonshire countryside seeking some well-needed rest. But Slyford St James is far from the peaceful haven Jim was hoping for.

Almost immediately he is plagued by strange occurrences: a combination lock that won't open, loud noises in the attic, the figure of a little girl always just out of sight. His new village friends, Jed and Emma, are convinced Jim has found his way to the village for a reason, to solve the mystery surrounding the suspicious death of a child. But as Jim is haunted by the ghosts of his past and endangered by a real-world threat in the present, it soon becomes apparent that true evil never dies.