An ancient legend reborn. A killer recreating dark rituals. And a detective racing to break the circle before it’s complete.

When the body of a teenage girl is found posed in the Merry Maidens stone circle, her face coated in clay and ochre, DS Liam Kilshaw is drawn into a case where near-forgotten fictions bleed into brutal fact.

With echoes of an old folktale of dancers turned to stone, the scene is more about staging than superstition. And when two skeletons are unearthed beneath a nearby stone, Kilshaw realises the past is far from dead and buried.

As he hunts for a missing farmhand linked to the girl, more victims surface, each placed with ritual precision in remote ancient sites. With the noose tightening, Kilshaw must decipher centuries-old secrets to break the circle. Because in this deadly game of ancient rites and cold-blooded murder, the killer is saving the most important sacrifice for last.

A haunting crime thriller where medieval legends collide with modern murder, perfect for fans of LJ Ross and Peter James.