Dorcas Thorpe discovers the body of a bludgeoned man during a country-side walk on her family's estate. The dead man is a stranger to the village, but is the killer? Dorcas' relentless curiosity about the crime and pursuit of the truth push the limits of what is socially acceptable behavior for a Georgian era woman. Her actions may reveal the criminal, but not before her quiet country life dissolves into a world of murder, arson, and theft.