When the caretaker of St Peter's finds that the church has been broken into early on the Saturday morning after Christmas, and that the elderly intruder is still in the building and kneeling at the communion rail, no-one is quite sure what to do. What's more, his startling resemblance to the picture of the suffering Christ that has hung in the church for fifty years unsettles all who catch sight of him.

But this is as nothing compared to the disturbing impact of his continuing presence on the church and the town. As his identity becomes clear and his story unfolds, long-hidden truths emerge and life in Penford can never be quite the same again…