The search for a Christmastime serial killer leads Det. Supt. Henry Christie into the crossfire of warring Lancashire crime families. Lancashire's Chief Constable lures Detective Superintendent Henry Christie away from his much-needed Christmas vacation with the possibility of catching a serial killer. Though he has a new fiancé to celebrate with and an ailing mother to care for, Henry can't refuse the chance to bring a murderer to book. In his thirty years with the Lancashire constabulary, Henry's never dealt with a case like this. Multiple victims disappeared on Christmas Eve, only to turn up gruesomely murdered on New Year's Day. But as he follows the leads to the likely next target-who happens to be the mentally deranged son of a Lancashire crime family-Henry finds himself stepping into a blood-soaked turf war.