In the spring of 1767, the widowed John Rawlings takes his daughter Rose and his former lover Elizabeth di Lorenzi to Cornwall for the Helstone Floral Dance. Their journey is interrupted when a child disappears from an inn, and the mystery deepens after a courtesan staying there is murdered.
The festivities gather travellers, local people and performers into a confined group of suspects, including a blind musician whose presence seems to shadow the investigation. Rumours of witchcraft and old grievances complicate the evidence while the Cornish setting exposes Rawlings to customs far from his familiar London streets. As danger closes around his own daughter, the case becomes as personal as it is puzzling.
