A vengeful ghost is only the first suspect when the body of Grodoveth, the king's envoy, is found separated from its head. It seems that everyone in town had either motive or opportunity to commit the... Murder in Cormyr.

The wizard Benelaius wanted only to find a nice quiet place to retire with his cats. The village of Ghars, close to the Vast Swamp, had little to recommend it except seclusion. Even the legends of a vengeful ghost who haunts the moors don't bother the aged wizard. The corpulent, sedentary mage is content to let his servant, Jasper, do all the legwork.

Benelaius's studies are rudely interrupted when the ghost begins to make nightly appearances, frightening the townspeople out of their wits. Heads begin to roll when the local blacksmith is murdered... but that corpse is barely cold when the decapitated body of the envoy Grodoveth is found in the ghost's tomb. As the most learned person in Ghars, how can Benelaius refuse to help his adopted town?

Axe-wielding ghosts give way to treachery and deceit as Benelaius, along with Jasper and the wizard's former apprentice, Lindavar, discover that even a sleepy, quiet village has many hidden secrets.