A mass grave is uncovered in a devastated Croatian village and the mutilated body of a young Englishwoman Dorrie Mowat is exhumed.

Her mother who detested Dorrie when she was alive is determined to find out how her daughter died. But with civil war tearing apart the former Yugoslavia none of the authorities are interested in what they view as a minor war crime. She employs private investigator Bill Penn a former MI5 officer who anticipated a short trip to Zagreb where he will compile a meaningless report and receive a good fee at the end of it. But once he has seen the killing ground Penn becomes determined to find the truth behind the young woman's death.

As Penn searches for evidence of war crimes he finds himself pitted against a ruthless opponent who will stop at nothing to cover his tracks...

I have read four books of Seymour and this one is the best. It is complex and true, it reveals the horrors of the Balkan ethnic wars by focusing on events in just one, average village. As usual, the reader can get the flavor of the places described and there is no happy end. It is more psychological than a thriller, and that is, I presume, the reason why the book is unpopular with some. Last but not least at all: the book rightly describes the amount of blame and responsibility resting on the Western powers for doing nothing and the sleeping ability inside any individual to make a difference. The heroism of the main character is tragic and moving, but real and not cheap.