Nottinghamshire’s bailiffs are on the trail of a sinister kidnapper… Nottingham, England, 1590 County Bailiff Edward Mountsorrel and Town Bailiff Francis Barton have vowed to root out the criminals of Nottinghamshire and bring them to justice. But after acting on information from a questionable source, Edward is tricked into allowing several deer to be stolen from a local estate. Furious, he sets about tracking them down. Meanwhile, Francis is asked to investigate the disappearance of Nell, a young woman who was last seen at a local alehouse with a wealthy stranger. When the bailiffs’ shared house is burned down and their servant is found stabbed to death, Edward and Francis begin to suspect that their cases are linked. And when more young women go missing, the two bailiffs worry they are running out of time to retrieve them from danger… Who wishes to silence to Edward and Francis? What happened to the missing women? And can the two bailiffs find them before it’s too late…?