DCI Vera Stanhope is called to the University of Northumberland when Jamie Marshall, a young, promising journalism student, plummets to his death from the top of a disused faculty building. With no eye-witnesses and no immediate leads, Vera turns to friends and family glean all she can about Jamie, and to discover who might have wanted him dead. Vera's investigation delves further into Jamie's academic and personal life, as it becomes apparent that all is not as it seems. His sunny persona is betrayed by vlog posts that cast Jamie in a different light altogether, with anger and resentment bubbling to the surface. But what was Jamie rallying against? And, in writing part-time for the local newspaper, could this bright, popular student have made enemies that would want to silence him? Facing deception from all quarters, Vera must unravel the tangled web of relationships in Jamie's life before an unexpected chain of events leads to disastrous consequences.