In the Scottish highlands, a secret is buried in a hillside, sought after by a villain and a pretty young lass. This is a primitive world of lairds and gangrels, in which the annual shooting of the hinds is an ecological imperative, and as man stalks beast, the narrator moves towards the completion of his own task.

P M Hubbard is best known for the sixteen classic suspense novels he published between 1963 and 1979. Each is set in the British countryside and draws on the author's own interests in country pursuits, folk religion and the works of Shakespeare.