Raif Jarrett has returned from battle, and is seeking a quiet life as agent to the Duke of Penrith. So when he is sent to the Durham town of Woolbridge to settle the affairs of one of the Duke's tenants following his sudden death, the dangers of the Yorkshire countryside could not be more unexpected. Jarrett begins to uncover a network of crime and corruption but is thwarted at every turn by the town's powerful and much-feared magistrate, Mr. Justice Raistrick. When a young woman dies in tragic and mysterious circumstances, Jarrett is accused of her murder and has to fight for his life as he desperately seeks to uncover the truth.While he unravels one mystery, Raif Jarrett keeps the lid firmly closed on another. As a stranger in Woolbridge, Jarrett sets tongues wagging, but he refuses to talk about his family, especially his connection to the Duke. And why did he flee to the army—seeking almost certain death—some years previously? Even the elegant and...

It is early 1812 and King George's subjects are suffering from the war, bad harvests and bad trade. As they wait for the influx of strangers attracted by the Easter Fairs, the authorities in Woolbridge fear that the country is on the edge of civil war. Martial Law seems to be the only answer.Meanwhile, Raif Jarrett is restless in his role as Agent. His young cousin Favian, rusticated from Oxford, has been sent up North to learn some gentlemanly ways. But Jarrett is too busy for baby-sitting--the arrival of an old flame, an actress, is complicating his personal life, and rumours of government spies infiltrating Woolbridge are feeding his lust for mystery and adventure. But when a traveling salesman is murdered in suspicious circumstances and Favian disappears, Raiff's problems become a lot closer to home. As he and Duffin--a local poacher and Jarrett's trusty sidekick--delve into the crime, they encounter a web of political deceit that throws up many more...