More shocking still is the coroner's revelation: the deceased is no man but a maidservant, clad in the garb of her master, Mr. Charles Danforth of Penfolds Hall. Tess Arnold had ruled the stillroom at Penfolds for many years, until she was labeled a witch and dismissed for indiscretion. Was Tess the prey of a madman loose in the hills, or perchance the cast-off impediment to a gentleman's marriage?

As usual, Jane's acute perception and her nose for trouble place her supremely at risk, from a killer who may strike as violently by day as he once did by night.