The queen is Marie of Roumania: the royal granddaughter to Victoria, Empress of the British Empire, and Alexander II, Tsar of Russia. A famous beauty who has single-handedly transformed Roumania from a backwater into a force to be reckoned with. The castle is Bran: an ancient structure on the border with the newly regained territory of Transylvania, a gift to Queen Marie from her people. The threat is ... less clear. Shadowy figures, vague whispers, dangers that may only be accidents. When Queen Marie calls, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes are as dubious as they are reluctant. But a young girl is involved, and a beautiful queen. Putting aside their doubts, Russell and Holmes are drawn into a mystery in a land of long memory and hidden corners, a land that had known Vlad the Impaler, a land from whose churchyards the shades creep.