Ten-year-old Rhona goes missing. Her mother, Nancy, retreats into a state of frozen hope. Agnetha, an American academic, comes to England to research a thesis entitled Serial Killing: A Forgivable Act? Then there's Ralph, a loner with a bit of previous who's looking for some distraction... Drawn together by horrific circumstances, these three embark upon a long dark journey, which finally curves upwards into the light.