Sebastian and Hero travel to Ayleswick-on-Teme to honour a dead friend, only to be drawn into the murder of a young widow found beside the river. The victim called herself Emma Chance, but her papers and recent movements suggest that both her name and her purpose in the village were false.
The search uncovers earlier deaths, ruined estates and secrets surrounding Lucien Bonaparte, who is being held under British supervision nearby. Sebastian must determine how the widow's concealed past connects to the village and to unresolved questions about his own origins.