It's 1761. Robert Fairfax, chancing upon a stagecoach tipped into a ditch, two of its passengers lying dead, is propelled into a baffling and complex investigation. He soon suspects that this is more than a simple highway robbery. One of the two corpses is apparently a wealthy banker, Nicholas Twelvetree, but Nicholas Twelvetree is alive in the neighbouring town - paralysed with fear. The other corpse appears to be that of an escaped lunatic - a revelation made by a Methodist preacher who is universally despised. But the coach record states that there were three passengers on board that day. So where is the third? Fairfax traces murderous designs behind an intricate pattern of deception and must piece together this deadly puzzle - knowing that a ruthless killer will stop at nothing to prevent him ...