When his uncle runs off to visit Alastair's grave for the first time, Tom Apollyon finds their family roles reversed: he feels obligated to watch over Paul, who never makes impulsive decisions while drunk.

The catch is The Shuck-not a peaceful cemetery near the sea, just a pub near the sea-actually contains the polite, but unpredictable, spirit of Paul's former lover.

Benson grudgingly communicates with Alastair even though David Mills is best suited to communing with the dead. Unfortunately, David is much too busy running a pub in the Apollyons'-and one devoted selkie's-absence to be a proper witch. He's only just broken a bewitchment that he didn't even know he cast, after all.

There's also the tiny matter of plotting murder under Lennie's nose, despite how David suspects they'll see killing as anything but chivalric.

But David isn't alone. Nearly everyone connected to The Shuck is keeping something to themselves; closely held truths may prevent anyone's true love from ever taking root. Between these walls, self-fulfilling prophecies seem to be most victorious. Even the restless dead can't secure what they want... fate or faith may need to intervene.