Cotswolds inhabitants are used to bad weather, but the night sky is especially foggy as Rory and Molly Harris drive home slowly from a dinner party in their village of Sumpton Harcourt. They struggle to see the road ahead - but then screech to a halt. Right in front of them, aglow in the headlights of their car, a body hangs from a lightning-blasted tree. But is it suicide - or murder ? Agatha Raisin is called in to investigate, delighted to have some excitement back in her life. But Sumpton Harcourt is an isolated and unfriendly village, and when two more deaths follow the first, Agatha begins to fear for her reputation - and her life. That the village has its own coven of witches certainly doesn't make her feel any better...