Spring: a time of rebirth and celebration. And a time of death...for April is the cruellest month. When a young archaeologist studying on a site at Whalsay discovers a set of human remains - the island community is intrigued. Is it an ancient find - or a more contemporary mystery? Then an elderly is shot on her land in a tragic accident and Jimmy Perez is called in by her grandson - his own colleague Sandy Wilson. He finds two feuding families whose envy, greed and bitterness has divided the surrounding community. With Fran in London, and surrounded by people he doesn't know and a community he has no links with - Jimmy finds himself out of depth. Then another woman dies and as the spring weather shrouds the island in claustrophobic mists the two deaths remain shrouded in mystery.