After solving the mystery behind the Beast of Blindburn, Agrippina Greystone is asked by her friend Richard to accompany him to Essex and uncover who-or what-is tormenting his uncle, Eugene Bolten. Plagued by whispers and the ghostly apparition of a woman in black, Richard's uncle raves about a family curse several generations old. Though quick to write off the illogical, Agrippina cannot dismiss his claims as he is not the only one to have seen her. When she herself witnesses her haunting image, logic itself disappears.

Exsanguinated cows, burned wheat fields, hysterical girls, dead bodies, and paranoia all surround the woman in black. Who is she? What curse did she cast on the Bolten family and why? With family secrets as deep as they come, Agrippina struggles to make sense of it all. Will she figure out how to stop the curse in time to save Mr. Bolten, or will she learn why some secrets are better left buried?