Superintendent Alan Markby and his friend Meredith Mitchell spend a holiday in the village of Parslow St. John. They don’t manage to rest, though, because the mysterious death of an elderly wealthy woman, Olivia Smithon, from the estate “Crows,” can’t leave them indifferent. Besides, Olivia’s death is not the only mystery in Parslow St. John. Not far from the old woman’s house, they find a decapitated body of a handyman, Ernie Berry—leading to the suspicion that ritual killings might be taking place in the village.