The small boat drifts gently down the river, twisting slowly with the current. Lying on the bottom, a still figure is dressed in midnight black robes, holding a single red rose in cold, pale hands…

When two students at ancient Durham University make a gruesome discovery, Dr Harrison Lane, Head of the Ritualistic Behavioural Crime unit, is summoned to investigate. A young student has been murdered, satanic symbols etched across their chest, and Harrison is disturbed to see the upside-down hangman’s cross, the devil’s symbol of justice. To Harrison, there’s no justice here, and he vows to uncover the truth.

The student was popular, and the police can’t find a motive for the murder. Meanwhile, rumours of ghost sightings are spreading like wildfire across campus, and they all seem to be circling around one location: Palace Green, a popular meeting place in the very oldest part of the university.

Then Harrison discovers an unsolved cold case – a student who went missing a year ago, presumed drowned. Wondering if it could be related to the recent death, he digs into it further – what he finds sends shockwaves across the campus. Is something deadly and sinister happening in the heart of the university?

As Harrison comes closer to the truth, he realizes that the stakes have never been higher. With a killer on the run and a ticking clock counting down, Harrison must confront the demons from his own past and face down a dangerously powerful adversary to finally uncover the truth.