Raif Jarrett has returned from battle and is seeking a quiet life as agent to the Duke of Penrith. So when he is sent to the Durham town of Woolbridge to settle the affairs of one of the Duke’s tenants following his sudden death, the dangers of the Yorkshire countryside could not be more unexpected. Jarrett begins to uncover a network of crime and corruption but is thwarted at every turn by the town’s powerful and much-feared magistrate, Mr. Justice Raistrick.