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Eight-year-old Daisy Mason disappears from her family's home in Oxford in the middle of a costume party. Detective Inspector Adam Fawley takes the case knowing the odds: nine times out of ten, whoever is responsible in a child's disappearance is someone close to home.

The Masons give him plenty to question. Daisy's mother is preoccupied with how the family looks to others. Her father turns cold and defensive when the police press him. Her younger brother is withdrawn and barely speaks.

Fawley searches for any trace of the girl while the clock runs, but there is nothing to follow. Nobody saw anything and nobody admits to knowing anything. Even so, everyone has an opinion about what happened, and each person seems to be protecting a secret of their own. As the inquiry continues, a scandal breaks around the family.

This is a psychological crime novel and a police procedural built around a missing child. It is suspense in a domestic setting, with a mood of unease that grows as the suspects multiply, and the story is plotted toward a late twist.