The investigation leads him to the remote village of Devil's Bridge, where Helen Jenkins' body is found at the bottom of a deep ravine, not far from the site of an old children's home that she ran for many years. The home was closed 15 years ago, and the building is now a hotel, but the untouched attic reveals a snapshot of a tortured past. Only by unlocking the secrets of the children's home can Mathias crack the case and reveal the murderer.

Could his death be linked to a series of murky land deals made by his father, who disinherited a neighbour, Eric Roberts, years previously? What secrets do the mountains hold about the deaths of three German prisoners of war on Welsh soil in 1944? And what involvement does 'The Guild' - a local organisation of professional men - have in this historical jigsaw?