A freak tidal surge hits a shabby Welsh seaside town leaving considerable damage and three locals drowned. But when the remains of a fourth are found in the filth and debris it takes time for their identification as a celebrated Oxford historian Sara Meredith. The mystery of her disappearance from the town caused at the time that has still not died down. Now it returns to overshadow the lives of the few people who were close to her and causes one in particular to search for a resolution...What is known is that she arrived here in pursuit of her young runaway daughter: Eurwen- a Welsh name, a difficult name for an impossible girl. As any concerned parent would, Meredith has followed her to the home of her ex-husband where the girl was last seen. But from the moment she arrives here she is herself stalked by someone who appears to know a great deal too much about both mother and child. Her every move is dogged and, it seems, predicted while each desperate effort to locate the girl is thwarted rather than helped by the people she meets and the town itself. And then there are Meredith's own misdemeanours to be accounted for...