When Kate Herrick's grandmother asks her to retrieve some papers and family mementoes from her childhood home in Todhall before Rose Cottage is sold, Kate is happy enough to go, but—widowed and comfortably settled now in London—she is in some doubt as to how the village will receive her. In Stewart's 1997 novel, the locals seem friendly, but there is evidence of a break-in at the cottage, and then Kate's nearest neighbors, three elderly ladies from what the villagers call "Witches' Corner," come with tales of night-time prowlers in the garden, and even ghosts. Kate finds herself with a mystery to solve, and she may even find unexpected romance.