Following the report of two missing honeymooners, Ellis and Harper are called to the village of Brindleton. With the newlyweds' phones found at the edge of a dangerous stretch of river, the working theory quickly becomes that of a murder-suicide. But when a severed hand is found near the honeymooners' camper van, it becomes clear that the pair have met with foul play. Intrusive internet sleuths have descended on the village, the local force is overwhelmed and under-resourced, and to solve this case, Ellis must evade the online frenzy in order to delve into the village's tangled past.