Jess Armstrong

December, 1922. Ruby Vaughn expects nothing exciting from a quiet pre-Christmas visit to Oxford with her elderly employer, Mr Owen. Far from the strange and sometimes dangerous books that pass through their shop and with Mr Owen due to attend meetings of the antiquarian society, Ruby hopes for a peaceful week. But when the body of disgraced scholar Julius Harker is discovered among his exhibition of Egyptian antiquities, panic spreads throughout the city's cobbled streets. Drawn reluctantly into the mystery by an old friend, Ruby soon realises Oxford is hiding dangerous secrets - especially when Ruan Kivell, the enigmatic folk healer she met in Cornwall, unexpectedly reappears.

December, 1922. Ruby Vaughn is looking forward to a quiet, relaxing trip to Oxford in the week before Christmas with her octogenarian housemate and colleague Mr Owen. Far away from the arcane, unusual - and occasionally illegal - books that seem to always get her into trouble. The most she expects to do is attend a handful of his antiquarian society meetings. But when the body of disgraced scholar Julius Harker is amongst his exhibition of Egyptian antiquities looted by Napoleon, panic spreads throughout the cobbled streets of Oxford. The last thing Ruby wants is another investigation, but then an old friend comes begging for her help. If that wasn't enough, her past insists on haunting her when Ruan Kivell, the intriguing folk healer that she met in Cornwall, suddenly reappears. It seems there is much more going on in Oxford that meets the eye.

October, 1922. Ruby Vaughn accompanies her elderly employer, Mr Owen, to Manhurst Castle in the wild Scottish Borders on the pretext of appraising rare manuscripts, but the truth is darker. Haunted by the loss of his son in the Great War, Mr Owen has come seeking contact through a séance led by a mysterious trio known as The Three Fates. However, as the candle smoke from the séance clears, Ruby finds a body and discovers that she and Mr Owen are the prime suspects for the murder. To clear their names, they must unravel buried secrets and confront a killer willing to silence them - forever.

1922. Ruby Vaughn has made a life for herself running a bookshop alongside octogenarian Mr Owen. When she finds herself at Penryth Hall, deep in the Cornish countryside, painful memories emerge of her lost friendship with Tamsyn, now married to the rather sinister Sir Edward Chenowyth. Although desperate to leave, Ruby''s plans are thwarted when Penryth''s bells ring for the first time in thirty years. Edward has been brutally killed in the orchard and fears are rife that a dormant curse has been awoken. Sceptical Ruby doesn''t believe in such things, nor in the power the locals swear Ruan Kivell, the Pellar, possesses to break the curse. But, to protect her friend, Ruby must work alongside this unsettling man to find out what really happened that night.

A bohém amerikai örökösnő, Ruby Vaughn az első világháború után Exeterben kezd új életet, egy könyvritkaságokkal foglalkozó antikvárius házában. Munkaadója, a csodabogár Mr. Owen Cornwallba küldi, hogy egy ritkaságokból álló könyvgyűjteményt vigyen el a különc férfinak, Ruannak, akit a helyiek Vajákosnak hívnak. Ruby vonakodik útra kelni, mely vészesen közel viszi egykori jó barátnője, Tamsyn otthonához, aki oly módon árulta el a bizalmát, amit soha nem tud megbocsátani. Egy józanabb lélek ilyenkor csak átadja a csomagot, és a régi sebek feltépése nélkül távozik. De Rubyt még soha senki sem vádolta azzal, hogy józanul gondolkodik. A baljós múlttal rendelkező kastély, Penryth Hall Tamsynnek és férjének, Sir Edward Chenowythnek az otthona. Ruby épphogy megérkezik, máris alig várja, hogy mihamarabb távozhasson erről a nyugtalanító helyről. Ám a terve hamar füstbe megy, amikor harminc év után először szólalnak meg Penryth harangjai: Edward a gyümölcsöskertben szörnyű halált halt, melynek következtében újra szárnyra kelnek a visszatérő átokról szóló pletykák. A helyszínen felbukkan Ruan Kivell, a Vajákos is, akiről az a hír járja, hogy képes megtörni az átkot. Ruby nem hisz az átkokban, ahogy a vajákosokban sem, de ez itt a rejtélyes Cornwall, és a falusiak számára az átok minden, csak nem hiedelem, mely már újabb áldozatára les.