While out on a walk in the hills during a visit to her relatives in Derbyshire, Jane finds a terribly mutilated body. It turns out to be Tess Arnold, a stillroom maid at a local estate known for her skill as an herbalist. Was Tess suspected of witchcraft? Was she thought to be a traitor to the secret rites of the Freemasons? What was her relationship with the Duke's family? Was the killing the work of a madman? When the wrong person is accused of murder, Jane Austen becomes an innocent victim's only hope in a fiendishly clever and breathlessly diverting mystery. Once again Stephanie Barron reveals Jane Austen's potential as a brilliant sleuth.