Slipstone Rill: A Gothic Mystery (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780692197035)

Down from Slipstone Village's old chapel, across the rill and deep in the woods, live the remnants of a reclusive family of carpenters and violin makers. Two generations earlier, their treasured ring of spruce trees, whose wood is necessary for the distinctive tone of their violins, was poisoned by a girl who had been raped by one of the family. Now, with threats and violence, the last of those craftsmen looks to regain the secret of the trees' regeneration. Telling the story is the village's newly arrived chapel administrator, whose predecessor had disappeared, along with the chapel's prized Maggini violin.