Ralph Delchard, a veteran of the Battle of Hastings, and lawyer Gervase Bret press on with the mission entrusted to them by William the Conqueror: to investigate peculiarities revealed during the compilation of the Domesday Book, the great survey of England. Journeying throughout the kingdom the duo face being ensnared in alarming mysteries in the towns they visit. The small village of Maldon is controlled by the wealthy and rapacious FitzCorbucion family. When the eldest son, Guy, is found murdered, his father demands justice and will stop at nothing to get it. Delchard and Bret arrive into a charged atmosphere and are entangled in a case far more dangerous than their original task.