All she wants is enough peace and quiet to complete her multi-lingual series of children's books. Where better to find it than in an old cottage on the rural estate of her dear friends, the Ashendens of Ballynagh, Ireland? But as she settles in, translator Torrey Tunet finds trouble in paradise. First she witnesses her best friend Rowena Keegan's murderous attack on her beloved grandfather, Dr. Ashenden. Then Torrey lies to the police to protect Rowena. When Dr. Ashenden is found dead in the forest, Inspector O'Hare has all but convicted Rowena, and indicted Torrey as collaborator. What is Rowena hiding? It's up to Torrey to discover a wellspring of evil in a bucolic Irish village where the reign of terror has only just begun...