Christmas, 1483: Roger the Chapman is looking forward to twelve days of peace and celebration with his wife and children in Bristol. The family is particularly excited by the arrival of a troupe of mummers, who will perform their plays in the outer ward of the castle throughout the festival. But the gruesome murders of two of the town's most prominent and venerable citizens, both veterans of the French wars, scupper Roger's hopes as he is gradually drawn into the hunt for the killer.
Once again, Roger finds himself in grave danger, but it is someone else who pays the price of his inability to keep his nose out of matters that do not concern him . . .