Albert Campion sets out to plumb the secrets of Saltey, an ancient hamlet on the Essex marshes. Once the haunt of smugglers, now it hides a secret rich and mysterious enough to trap all who enter - and someone in the village is willing to terrorise, murder and raise the very devil to keep that secret to themselves.
Two roads lead to Saltey, an ancient hamlet on the Essex estuary: one is fast, frequented by mods and rockers on holiday weekends; the other is a dust track, almost hidden by centuries of misuse by black-hearted smugglers. But in this quintessential thriller, Albert Campion discovers that few roads lead out. For Saltey holds a secret rich and mysterious enough to trap all who enter the village, despite someone’s best endeavours to terrorize, murder and raise the very devil to keep that secret to themselves.