It is the summer of 1322 and two playmates have uncovered the body of a young girl up on the moors. The body is that of Aline, the ten-year-old daughter of Swetricus, who went missing six years ago. Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, and his friend Bailiff Simon Puttock are summoned to investigate, and soon discover Aline is not the only young girl to have been found dead in recent years. It seems that the villagers have been concealing not only a serial killer, but a possible case of cannibalism. Or even, if the rumours are to be believed, a vampire!