Ambrose is an orphan on a mission for revenge, but when he ends up on the doorstep of the great Velhildegildus Hall he is faced with more than he bargained for. Soon Ambrose finds he has his own part to play in the grisly games of a baron with a mysterious past - and a sinister collection of rare butterfly cocoons.
This book is told in the author's usual inimitable style, with a touch of gore, a splash of grim and a dark mystery to unravel. There is a new cast of characters, but we also meet a few friends from earlier books as we travel with Ambrose from Urbs Umida to Pagus Parvus and on to a new and even more imaginative Gothic setting - the great, dark Velhildegildus Hall.