A dead girl is found floating in the River Teme at one of medieval Ludlow's mills, drowned under mysterious circumstances that only the most addle-witted could think was anything but murder.Yet Stephen Attebrook, an impoverished knight and sometime deputy coroner, can spare no time to investigate this crime. He and his friend Gilbert Wistwode must pursue a more immediate threat - unknown ruffians traveling under the guise of bear baiters have kidnapped...