Professor Redmond 'Mac" McClain and his artist wife Jennifer are thrilled to be at Ravenslake University in Pleasanton, Ohio on a faculty exchange. The Camelot-like setting charms them. New friends tell them of a famous Ravenslake mystery-the vanishing of student John Traynor. He disappeared, without a trace, into the midnight darkness of a nearby hamlet forty-one years ago. Most believe he was murdered, but no body or killer was found. Students believe Traynor's ghost haunts the site of his old dormitory. Others believe Traynor suffered an accidental head injury and amnesia, wandered to a distant location, and gradually assumed a new identity without any awareness of his life as John Traynor. Mac and Jen enjoy the quaint town, new friends, university sports team successes, and artistic events, but disquieting elements bubble beneath the placid surface. Friends Eve Gundersen and Giselle Johannsen tell them of their depressed former classmate, Horace Gilmer, who at the age of 34, shot himself. Jen finds a deep poignancy in the story of Horace. And the fall term has barely begun when a new mystery shocks peaceful Pleasanton-a cold-blooded murder. There's no shortage of potential killers. And other skullduggery is afoot In a genteel college town setting, Mac and Jen must apply their famous curiosity and initiative to disentangle the web of mysteries at Ravenslake University.