A company of mercenaries is in residence in the town of Crediton. Although they are commonplace in 14th-century England, this group is particularly troublesome, seducing the local girls and showing no respect for anyone. When a robbery takes place among the mercenaries, Sir Baldwin Furnshill and Simon Puttock are on hand to investigate. Then a young girl is discovered murdered, hidden in a chest. This is only the first of the Crediton Killings—and as murder follows brutal murder, Furnshill and Puttock must discover the killer"s identity before he strikes yet again.