Bill Hixon arrives in Boston to take up the position of Chief Constable with East Lincolnshire police – but his first day is far from routine when the head of a teenage girl who disappeared several years previously is found in the freezer of a local nut job. Bill seizes the chance to take on one of the force's most notorious unsolved cases, and befriends the girl's mother, Angie (Susan Lynch), as the investigation into her death gets underway.
'Piano Man', (Craig Parkinson), an amnesiac arrested after an altercation at a local train station, is implicated in series of unsolved armed robberies committed by an offender known only as the 'Boston Bandit'. Although CID are keen to wrap the case up, Bill suspects that 'Piano Man' may have been framed and sets about discovering the truth. Lydia comes under fire when a personal connection to one of the victims in the case is uncovered.
When Boston's pensioners find themselves under attack from a seasoned burglar who has seemingly resurfaced after fifteen years away, Bill interviews local librarian Alma Smith (Emma D'Arcy), whose DNA is partial match to the burglar. Alma's father, Jonjo Ryan, disappeared when she was just a baby, but as Bill comes under further scrutiny from the press, he discovers that Alma's connection to the case may not be as innocent as he first suspected.
A sparring rivalry between two local farming families is reignited when the body of labourer Will Mowbray is found in a secluded area of woodland known locally as 'Dead Man's Wood'. Bill initially suspects the fiery Audrey Merrick (Lisa Palfrey) of being responsible for Will's murder, but Muriel is convinced that rival farmhand Ray Gilchrist (Con O'Neill) had a part to play. Meanwhile, Kelsey's first day at her new school results in an unexpected friendship.
The murder of local farmer found floating in a suitcase in the local river leads Bill to become a shoulder to cry on for the victim's daughter, Charlene (Nichola Burley). Suspicion falls amongst the many immigrant workers found amongst his payroll, many of whom claim to have been living in squalid conditions. However, the situation is complicated when it transpires that the victim's wife, Lubica (Katarina Čas) had recently acquired all of his assets.
On his way home from work, Bill finds five charred bodies atop a bonfire on the roadside, close to a local farm. Pathology reveals that all five victims had been shot through the head with a nail, although this was not the cause of death. Raking through cases with a similar MO, Bill uncovers a series of murders committed by Frank McGill (Patrick Bergin), a former hitman who has been in witness protection since 1997, having turned Queen's evidence on his former gangland boss.
Series summary, first aired in German Television (ZDF).
