During a blistering summer, drought has depleted Thornfield Reservoir, uncovering the remains of Hobb’s End, a small village hidden from view for over forty years. For a curious young boy, this resurfaced hamlet has become a magical playground – until he unearths a human skeleton. Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks, unpopular with his superiors for having challenged the system once too often, is given the impossible task of identifying the victim – a woman who lived in a place that no longer exists, whose former community is scattered to the winds …
