Glasgow, 1493. When the peat-cutters came to report the dead man, Gil Cunningham was teaching swordplay to Alys, his new young wife. The finders identify the corpse as Thomas Murray, a coal worker missing from the estate of Sir James Douglas, Gil's godfather. But Murray's wife claims it must be someone else; Sir James' steward suspects witchcraft. Trying, with Alys' help, to establish the truth, Gil finds himself dealing with a motley crew of peat-cutters and salt-boilers, colliers and priests, plus the numerous women in the Murray household.