After the last peal of the midnight bell fades on St. Mark's Eve--the time when it is said ghosts of those who will die in the next year can be seen--Connie Giffords, daughter of a disgraced taxidermist who once had a famous museum of taxidermy in their Blackthorn House, discovers the body of a stranger she had noticed alive near the church. In the following days, Connie gets strange glimpses into vanished years which reveal more about the mystery woman, whose death has affected Connie much more than is reasonable--unless she is someone more important to Blackthorn House than Connie has realized.