Quiet life in suburbia takes a dark turn when a woman is discovered lying dead in her back garden. DCI Stanhope realises that the neighbours aren't all that they seem. Buried secrets must be unearthed to catch the killer of murder victim and mother of two, Alison Glenn. Vera and Aiden try to uncover the kind of woman Alison was by looking to her local community. But they are forced to expand their enquiry when Alison's long lost family come out of the woodwork and suspicions begin to mount. Vera must endeavour to identify which of the underlying conflicts in Alison's life have prompted the crime of passion that caused her death.