A day like any other for security chief Tracy Waterhouse until she makes a shocking impulse purchase That one moment of madness is all it takes for Tracy's humdrum world to be turned upside down the tedium of everyday life replaced by fear & danger at every turn Witnesses to Tracy's outrageous exchange in the Merrion Centre in Leeds are Tilly an elderly actress teetering on the brink of her own disaster & Jackson Brodie who has returned to his home county in search of someone else's roots All three characters learn that the past is never history & that no good deed goes unpunished