Archaeologist and detective, Alan Cadbury, returns for his second adventure. In The Lifers' Club, he unravelled the background to a violent death on an archaeological dig in the Fens, a wild marshy region in the east of England. The Way, the Truth and the Dead takes us to the black peatlands of the south, around the glorious cathedral city of Ely. It's a watery landscape where the many ancient dykes, drains and rivers conceal dark secrets.

Alan finds himself the Director of an important Roman and early Medieval excavation at the little hamlet of Fursby, not far from Littleport. But shortly before he starts work, he is contacted by his old friend, Detective Chief Inspector Richard Lane. Lane needs help – a body has been found in a river near the dig. And the dead person is an archaeologist, an old friend of Alan's.

It soon becomes clear that this will be no ordinary excavation: the remains are of national importance and their preservation is outstanding. So it comes as no surprise when a major television series decides to adopt it as a flagship project, opening the dig up to the public at a time when the rural community would rather keep things quiet...