Denton, 1981. Britain is in recession, the IRA is becoming increasingly active and the country's on alert for an outbreak of rabies. Detective Sergeant Jack Frost is working under his mentor and inspiration DI Bert Williams, and coping badly with his increasingly strained marriage. Superintendent Stanley Mullett is desperately trying to restore order within the chronically depleted ranks, while refurbishing the dilapidated Eagle Lane HQ. And DI Williams is nowhere to be seen. So when a twelve-year-old girl goes missing from a department store changing room, Mullet has no option but to put DS Frost in charge of the investigation . . .