Every autumn the valley gathers for the harvest, and every few years someone never comes home. Ruth Baker digs into a tradition that's been feeding on its own people for generations.

When a body turns up at the grand old hall, nosy villager Agatha Twisty simply cannot resist a good puzzle. Tea, gossip, and one very inconvenient corpse - and she intends to crack it before the inspector does.

History is written by the victors — the truth is hidden in the margins. When a priceless ninth-century manuscript vanishes during a village literary festival, retired archivist Elara Thornbury sees what the police miss: the lock was not forced. Someone with a key and centuries-old motives has taken the Codex, and left a forgery in its place.