When Charlotte Brigham arrives in her former Vermont hometown on Halloween, she finds herself caught up in a murder that occurs that evening. During the course of the investigation, she reconnects with two former classmates--Loudon Phinney, now the town sheriff, and Sophronia Earthdaughter, nee Sophie Hodges, now the leader of a group of Wiccans on the neighboring farm. She also comes into contact with sundry other characters with grudges against the dead man, and when a second murder occurs, it's clear that Silaston is not the sleepy little town of Charlotte's youth.