It's May Day, a time of joyful song and dance. But Jane Moone is called at sunrise to view a sorrowful sight — Lucy Quirk, strangled in the maypole's tangled ribbons. Lucy came to Ayreford to re-unite with her long-lost father. The prominent cunning man is delighted to welcome her into his work, as well as his life. But Lucy has her own agenda and soon starts spilling secrets from his confidential patient notebooks.

Jane and John Greenslade, local barrister, find plenty of conflict around Lucy's death. The local Puritans wanted to stop May Day once and for all. Quirk wanted to stop his daughter's gossip. Any number of townsfolk might have confided secrets worth killing to conceal. Worse, Jane's every step is shadowed by troublesome fairies, especially the old river goddess protecting Quirk. But is she trying to help the investigation or hinder it?

Jane risks her life to peel back the glamours confusing the case. She's rescued in the end by the last person she ever expected to meet.