A historical detective story about the first case of Captain Stein and Notary Barbaric, who are on the trail of crime in the Habsburg Empire during the reign of Rudolf II.
At the end of the 16th century, a war with the Ottoman Empire raged in the Christian borderlands. The Turks try to penetrate the rich mining towns in Upper Hungary. War veteran Stein is sent to Stiavnica to expose a traitor who is about to show the enemy a secret way into the well-fortified town.
The search is further complicated by the murder of a local nobleman. Stein must join forces with city notary Matej Barbaric to unravel a web of conspiracies and crimes, many of which go deep into the past. It all seems to be connected to the cursed Hell Hill - many believe that the ghost of a debauched townswoman appears there, and at night the howling of dogs guarding the gateway to the afterlife.