Summer, 1545. England is at war. Henry VIII's invasion of France has gone badly wrong, & a massive French fleet is preparing to sail across the Channel. Meanwhile, Matthew Shardlake is given an intriguing legal case by an old servant of Queen Catherine Parr. Asked to investigate claims of 'monstrous wrongs' committed by Sir Nicholas Hobbey against his young ward, Hugh Curteys, Shardlake & his assistant Barak journey to Portsmouth. There, Shardlake also intends to investigate the mysterious past of Ellen Fettiplace, a young women incarcerated in the Bedlam.