On the bleak Nordic colony of Bondar, bodies are washing up on the beach. The Mayor and the police are mystified. But then a prime suspect turns up. A suspect who might be their best hope of solving the case.
Outside the walls of a remote 12th Century Abbey, England is at war. Inside, death stalks the novices. When Sister Melody arrives in search of a book, she may be their only salvation.
River stands accused of murder. Her one hope is being allowed to choose the legal system under which she'll be tried. Enter Roger Hodgkiss: curmudgeonly barrister, plucked from a 20th Century English courtroom.