When her parents die from fever, Lady Sarah Montgomery Baird Watson-Wentworth has to leave India, a land she was born and raised in, and travel to England for the first time. Finding it almost impossible to adjust to London society, Sarah flees to the county of Cheshire and the country estate of Grangeback that borders the village of Stickleback Hollow. A place filled with oddballs, eccentrics and more suspicious characters than you can shake a stick at, Sarah feels more at home in the sleepy little village than she ever did in the big city; however, even sleepy little villages have mysteries that must be solved. It's March and the Grand Tournament is upon Stickleback Hollow. Reverend Percy Butterfield is thrilled to see cricket returning to the village and the best that Lancashire, Yorkshire and Staffordshire have to offer to the village cricketing world are all coming to vie for the title of champion. But something is not right in Stickleback Hollow, items are still missing and there is a familiar face lurking in the shadow that could spell trouble for Sarah, Arwyn and Alex.