Some eight months following the events of Penric as well as the Shaman, Learned Penric, sorcerer and scholar, travels to Easthome, the administrative centre of the Weald. There he once again meets his close friends Shaman Inglis and Locator Oswyl. When your body of the sorceress is found in the woods, Oswyl draws him into another analysis, plus they must all work together to discover a mystery mixing magic, murder, and the unusual realities of Temple demons.