When the naked body of a young woman is found in the snow at a Norwegian ski resort, Sam Ryan is asked to represent the Townsend family whose daughter Ruth disappeared there several weeks before The autopsy however reveals that it is in fact the body of Louise Hutton who had vanished there some 15 years previously. When Ruth's body is subsequently found, it appears both girls were strangled in a similar fashion. The police focus their enquiries on Ruth's boyfriend and on Henry Hutton, Louise's uncle while Sam seeks the advice of a university colleague and tries to draw a profile of the serial killer.