 The novel sees Devon's first county coroner, Sir John de Wolfe, investigating the sudden death of a wealthy guild-master and, although he is convinced the death has natural causes, the victim's widow is convinced that her husband has been done to death by an evil spell.Unsatisfied by Sir John's efforts, she embarks on a campaign to rid the region of its 'cunning women' leading to a hysteria (foreshadowing later witch-hunts, such as the European Inquisitions and the Salem witch trials) in which a number of women are persecuted and even executed.When the Crowner's Welsh mistress Nesta is accused, Sir John is forced to step up his investigations to catch the culprits before she too faces the noose.