When Beth Latimer attends her son Danny's sports day and he is nowhere to be found, she starts panicking. After getting stuck in a traffic jam, the road she is trying to drive down has been closed off. Her 11 year old son, Danny's body has been found on the beach. New Detective Inspector Alec Hardy and Beth's best friend Ellie Miller are put in charge of the case as it soon becomes apparent that Danny was in fact murdered.