When William Dougal is invited to the cottage of a young doctor to look into a case of blackmail, he soon discovers that the village community is not as quaint as it seems. For hostility and deception brew beneath the surface . . . As a network of corruption is gradually exposed, the village is shaken by a series of chilling incidents: from a sweep of thefts to a ruthless hit-and-run. And when tensions escalate into murder, it's up to Dougal to piece the puzzle together - before another body turns up.