Cornwall 1916. Verity Tregorran, one of the local blacksmith's nine daughters, is finding it hard to hide her long-term feelings for Ned Chegwidden, the boy next door, now serving in the trenches. For if her parents knew of Verity's attachment to someone outside the family's strict Christian sect, they would be horrified.

Loitering on the coastal path one evening, Verity witnesses something suspicious on the cliffs which causes her to fear the involvement of German spies. There's only one person she can turn to: Effie Dawes, wife of the local police constable, now fighting overseas. Effie meanwhile has a tragedy of her own to face, while scandal will rock Verity's family - but the two unlikely friends remain determined in their efforts to discover what really happened on the cliffs.