The mining town of Coalville is run and owned by the Falkirk family, who keep the miners hungry for work, the Falkirk's own the lease on every house in Coalville including the Polanski family of which Colli is the eldest, their father a drunken bully who thinks beating his wife when he has spent all the money is the normal thing to do, until one night Colli has had enough and while the father is beating his mother once again plunges a bread knife into his back and kills him, then they have to flee from town in the dead of night. They find shelter in a barn and are discovered by the owner Thomas Bolan, who takes pity on the family, but Colli cannot stay with them in fear the police are now after him and while he leaves his family in the care of Thomas and his daughter. Colli get's a ride in a truck heading north with Jess Harper, and helps him get a job with his girlfriend's brother who has a detective agency. Many years pass and Colli gets very good at the agency not knowing one of his brothers get shot by the police thinking it is Colli trying to escape.Garry the owner sends him on his first case to try and find some evidence on a serial killer, and finds it is connected to the Falkirks is some way, with the hit and run deaths of Garry's parents and the death of Thomas Bolan's wife. Colli meets many people who are becoming involved in all the cases, and it takes some time to figure out who is who and how they are connected it twist and turns and no one can predict the outcome.