At the height of the Spanish Inquisition, high-ranking noblemen begin dropping like flies, with alarming frequency and unexplained violence. But can local 16th-century sheriff Ruy de Mendoza discern who's responsible when no one wants to cooperate? After all, before Mendoza can even identify the bodies, the crime scenes are mysteriously cleared - and the villagers pretend the murders never happened.

Two sisters, Grace and Violet, bound together by more than blood, live a reclusive life in a large mansion, detached from society and reality too. They have a plan. It's hardly conventional, but the outcome nine months later is all that counts. Whatever they do they must not fall in love with the man that they choose to ensnare. Set in contemporary New England.