Three years ago, Bella, a former hunt saboteur, was paralysed in an accident with a 4X4 driven by a hunt follower. Chris Prowse, her lover and carer, made it his mission to continue her fight against animal cruelty. His bloodied body was discovered in the New Forest, killed by the spades used to dig out badger setts. This is just the first murder to shatter the peace of the beautiful forest. With the discovery of a beheaded badger corpse, DCI Paul Draper and his team, based at the Lyndhurst station in the New Forest, become aware of the brutal world of dog fighting in their midst, and the psychopathic followers attracted to it. The fanatical commitment of the dog fighters is matched only by Bella’s determination to have her revenge, for herself and her dead lover. She devises a plan which sets in motion terrible consequences, intended and otherwise.