Following the tragic deaths of her parents Frankie has taken refuge in the Peak District village of Wendby. She buries herself in local history - which proves deeper and darker than she could ever have supposed. She befriends, and decides to seduce, the would-be priest Andrew Grantham, whose family have for centuries shepherded the inhabitants of Wendby into heaven. With him the tradition will die: he has chosen a life of celibacy, and to serve the 'True Church' elsewhere. Anyway, the inhabitants of Wendby definitely have their own ideas for eternal life. Pivotal to the creation of their 'little paradise' is the dead twelve year old boy Peter Watson. It is Frankie who finds his body and uncovers a murder twenty years old. With this discovery the stage is set for the return of all of Wendby's beloved dead. Just one little act is required - a last little sacrifice. But the creation of paradise in this small Derbyshire village will be at the expense of all life outside it. Only a Grantham can de-rail the train of events that were set in motion by the murder of Peter Watson. It is up to Frankie to persuade Andrew Grantham to take on his family's historic role and avert the coming Armageddon. But she can only hope to persuade Andrew to do his duty by risking betrayal and the sacrificial knife.