Gunmen are terrorising young women in the Cathedral town of Lafferton. What — if anything — links the apparently random murders? Is the marksman with a rifle the same person as the killer with a handgun? Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Serrailler falls back on well-tried police methods such as questioning neighbours and house-to-house searches. He tries to stay on step ahead of the killer to prevent each new outrage. And he tries to think himself into the gunman’s head. Meanwhile, his sister, Cat, has returned with her family from Australia, and Simon is once again sucked into family life at her welcoming farmhouse. But tragedy strikes, and the warmth and security of home are cruelly tested... Vows of Silence is a sequel to The Various Haunts of Men , The Pure in Heart and The Risk of Darkness .