It is lonely on the hills, alive or dead…

On the trail of a missing man whom he suspects of having dementia and being at grave risk, DCI Jack Harris makes a terrible discovery.

In a tent, nestled within the windy hills of the northern Pennines, lies another man. He has been shot dead.

The detectives soon establish that the victim was not a random camper but an investigative journalist.

Yet as Harris tries to work out what brought the victim to his area, Special Branch, under the advice of a foreign government, block the veteran detective from investigating further.

But Harris smells a rat. And he isn’t one to give others free rein over his patch. Nor lose a man who thinks he is the last person alive.