A wedding in the Cotswolds, a college reunion and a murder beneath Oxford's dreaming spires. Sounds like a case for Miss Clara Vale!
May Day, 1931. Miss Clara is looking forward to a respite from detective work as she attends her brother's wedding in the Cotswolds before returning to Oxford for Somerville College's ten-year reunion. But when Clara and her mother discover the body of a young research student at the ancient Rollright Stones, their celebrations are abruptly cut short.
The victim appears to have been sacrificed as part of a Beltane fertility ritual dedicated to the mysterious Celtic goddess Cuda so Clara calls on her indomitable assistant Bella who is in town for a romantic weekend with an archaeologist. Together with determined WPC Rosie Winter, they begin to untangle a web of academic rivalries, dangerous political extremism and long-buried secrets.
As the investigation draws Clara into the shadowy world of Celtic mythology she must separate ancient legend from modern murder before the May Day festivities claim another victim.
