Back in her natural habitat, Dr Nell Ward heads to a woodland pond to survey local newt populations. She's shocked to discover a car submerged in the water, with the driver dead behind the wheel. Nell recognises him as professional racer - and tabloid love rat - Jack Rafferty, whose performance on (and off) Finchmere's racetrack has earned him enemies. Suspecting this isn't the tragic accident it appears, DI James Clark calls upon Nell and her ecological skills to help find the murderer. But she soon finds that more lurks under the surface than she could ever have imagined. Despite the danger, she is determined to dredge up the truth from the murky depths of this case, and prevent the killer from making a speedy getaway.