As the summer of 1322 brings sun to the Devonshire countryside, it seems that the small village of Sticklepath is destined to remain in darkness. An afternoon of innocent adventure becomes one of gruesome terror when two playmates uncover the body of a young girl up on the moors. The body is that of ten-year-old Aline, who had gone missing six years earlier. When Sir Baldwin Furnshill and his friend Simon Puttock are called to the scene to investigate, they soon discover that Aline is not the only young girl to have been found dead in recent years. It seems that the villagers have been concealing not only a serial killer, but a possible case of cannibalism. Or, if the rumors are to be believed, a vampire.