July, 1144. The body of a woman is found butchered on an island a few miles upriver from Worcester - how did she get there, who killed her, and why? Uncovering the details of Ricolde's life and her past reveal a woman with hidden depths and hidden miseries which are fundamental to the answers, but time has cast a thick veil over the killer's identity. The lord sheriff's men have a trail that went cold over two decades ago, and evidence that contradicts itself. Undersheriff Bradecote and Serjeant Catchpoll will need all their wits to solve this mystery.