Antiques dealer Kate Hamilton is spending the month of May in the Suffolk village of Long Barston, enjoying time with Detective Inspector Tom Mallory. While attending the May Fair, the annual pageant based on a well-known Anglo-Saxon folktale, a body turns up in the middle of the festivities. Kate learns the murder took place in antiquity shop owner Ivor Tweedy's stockroom-- and a valuable Chinese pottery jar that she had been tasked with finding a buyer for has been stolen. Insurance won't cover a fraction of the loss. As Tom leads the investigation, Kate is convinced the solution to both crimes lies in the misty depths of Anglo-Saxon history-- and a generations-old pattern of betrayal. -- adapted from jacket.