After the many adventures Maxwell and his new friends faced in the first book, Maxwell Tart & The Witch of the Black Oaks, this book picks up right where he left off, at the entrance of The Tall Pine Forest and the magical realm of his mother Helena, The White Lady.
Since returning to the land after ten years at war, much has changed. Men have become desperate, turning to highway robbery. The new religion waxes while the old ways have moved into the shadows, becoming more dangerous. Maxwell is about to learn just how many magical creatures there are and just how anxious they have become.
Meanwhile, his squire Ronald Miller is done with his errands to the Capital. Together with his comrades, John John of River Run, Ollie and Big Mike of Black Town, they set out for home where they are beset on all sides by new dangers.
It doesn't take long for Sir Maxwell to learn his men are in trouble, and that trouble is closing in on Black Town. Accompanied by his mother and his faithful wolf, he heads home hoping they can defend the town with the help of his wife, Lorinda the Red Witch of the Black Oaks.
Maxwell will learn many things about the land and his wife that he did not want to know. A wizard long thought to be dead, a talkative pixie and a murderous water sprite, crows and wolf men, along with other things even more sinister held at bay by only his wife, a necromancer witch.
What else could possibly go wrong?