September 1592 - and the redoubtable Sergeant Dodd is still in London with that dashing courtier Sir Robert Carey, dealing with the fall-out from their earlier adventures. Carey urgently needs to get back to Carlisle where he is the Deputy Warden and the raiding season is about to begin.

Carlisle in 1592 is one of the most dangerous parts of Queen Elizabeth's kingdom, where the law of the Scots gives way to the law of the English, often leaving gaps where there is no law at all. Sir Robert Carey, the new deputy warden of the West March, must solve a murder and avert a minor civil war.