Should you find yourself in need of a discreet investigation into any sort of mystery, crime or puzzling circumstances, think of Jesperson and Lane . . .

Jesperson and Lane have just solved their first major case when a man bangs violently on their door - and almost immediately drops dead. The police rule death by natural causes, but the detectives are determined to find out what really happened . . .

Mr Manning was screaming about witches before his death.

The case takes them to Mr Manning's Norfolk home, a land of mysterious Shrieking Pits and ancient knowledge. Mr Manning was himself a member of the enigmatic School of Ancient British Wisdom, and not the first to suffer a similar fate. Local gossip suggests that he was secretly engaged to one of the three lovely sisters who reside at Wayside Cross - but which one? Are they really witches, as the gossips also claim?

And what does all this have to do with the mysterious Shrieking Pits and a mother desperate to find her missing baby?

Jesperson and Lane, at your service.

''One of the SF and fantasy & horror field's most urbane - and much under-appreciated - writers'' Love Reading