Travelling in bad weather on a very slow stopping train through the English countryside, Appleby encounters Everard Raven a compiler of encyclopaedias and the senior member of a prominent local family.

When they arrive at the small village station, appropriately named Appleby's End, the Inspector soon encounters various other members of the eccentric but friendly Raven family, all artistically inclined.

Things are brought into a more serious mood when the body of Heyhoe, an old family servant and likely half-brother of Everard Raven, is found buried up to his neck in snow.

Judith explains that this is the latest in a series of bizarre incidents which seem to closely resemble the stories of Everard Raven's long-dead father, a Victorian writer of melodramatic tales.

Appleby quickly discovers that the various happenings, including a prize bull turning into stone, a local boy gone missing and the apparent practice of witchcraft in the area, may all have a more logical explanation.