Once again Alex Duggins and her veterinarian friend Tony Harrison are thrown into a major murder investigation. When an almost-fresh body is discovered in a disused well among the ruins of a 14th-century manor house, the motive for the killing remains a baffling mystery. The victim was a widow who had lived quietly in the picturesque Cotswolds village of Folly-on-Weir for the past ten years. Who on earth could want her dead, and by such brutal means? As rumor and speculation engulf the town, another woman is attacked and Alex discovers that behind a tranquil face lurks a cunning and vengeful mind. Despite warnings from the police to stop interfering, she finds herself in the sights of a ruthless killer who has decided she knows too much.